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Comment by MOARDONGZPLZ | Hacker News Reader

I think their point is not worth addressing on its merits. I downvoted them because while the article itself focuses on an $18M grant in RI, it also plainly states that this is part of $2B program that's aimed at all states, tribal lands, and territories. With a kagi search that took less time than the poster took to write the comment, I was able to further find a whole site dedicated to the grant along with fact sheets on same, here: https://www.communitychangeta.org/about-community-change-gra...

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Thanks for posting the link, but it doesn’t make the program any more federal. Packaging a bunch of independent, local programs together under one umbrella doesn’t change the fact that they’re local programs. This really seems like the sort of ‘pork’ program everyone was complaining about a few cycles ago, albeit with an environmentalist sheen.

The entire framework is federal, the money comes from the fed, and the implementation is via fed grants given to local programs to achieve a broader result. It's a very federal program.

It really seems to me that the only federal part is the allocation and distribution of funds. Put another way, what would a less federal program look like? Could you describe a program with less of a federal nexus, while still being federally funded?

Yes it does. Paying for a land delegating work to locals is one of the most common patterns for federal action.

Pork is good. Pork helps grease the wheels of government, it helps things pass and helps facilitate compromise.

That's how most federal programs work. Congress appropriates the money, a federal agency defines requirements, and then states, cities, or non-governmental entities apply for grants.

For example, my city is trying to build a bridge. There's a particular federal program for this (which will probably get killed by Trump), so the city applied for funding and now it's their job to build the bridge.

I agree that many federal programs are made up of many local components, though transportation has often been viewed as affecting interstate trade and military logistics. Food waste in Rhode Island does not seem to have a federal nexus.

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