They spent pork-barrel money like a tidal-wave sea, but no funds trickled down far enough to reach me. Our books numbered few and were falling apart, and I sat mending pages with a crestfallen heart.

About This Quote

Every year, the lawmakers of Michigan use the state budget to reward their friends and punish their enemies. A few years ago, I was working as a page for a state lawmaker. A portion of the budget was set aside to bring in-state students into the state legislature. Most of their colleagues were content with offering high school students a small stipend to pay for college tuition, but I wanted to bring someone from my home town into the state legislature.

So, I decided to start an in-state scholarship program. My first order of business was getting the money out of the budget office. That meant convincing my bosses that it needed to be funded.

The problem was that legislators are not allowed to give money away without reimbursing the state for it using their own personal funds. While everyone else in government could simply take money out of their savings accounts or invest it in bonds, I had to go through the budget office and find a way to get this money out of there. My boss was livid at first, but after I told him just how many kids would benefit from this scholarship program he decided that if he had it to do over again he would have given me more money anyway.

Source: Librarians Night Before Christmas

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More Quotes By David Davis

1. They spent pork-barrel money like a tidal-wave sea, but no funds trickled down far enough to reach me. Our books numbered few and were falling apart, and I sat mending pages with a crestfallen heart.

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2. Nick chided a censor, who wished some books gone, and suggested she scan Fahrenheit 451. For the book-budget cutters, Old Claus had no plan, cause if they could read, they just read Ayn Rand.

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3. Twas a cold Yuletide evening, and I wandered the stacks, shelving multiple titles that the patrons brought back. We toiled overtime at our library here, 'cause the powers that be cut our staffing this year.

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