No pork served at golf courses...or other palaces of vice

    Just for kicks, I did a search by the word "golf" in the 1,100 pages of the American Recovery and Reinvestment act, otherwise known as the "stimulus package."  I wanted to know if any of the "pork" some members of Congress moaned about were directed at Democrats' favored country clubs. The term "golf" shows up three times in the bill.
    We might have thought that building or rehabbing a municipal golf course would put people to work and contribute to the local revenue stream.  But not only are such recreational projects ignored in the stimulus package, the bill also lumps golf courses in with more traditional "vices."
     "None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available in this Act may be used by any State or local government, or any private entity, for any casino or other gambling establishment, aquarium, zoo, golf course, or swimming pool," according to one section of the bill.
    "...Small issue and redevelopment bonds also are subject to additional restrictions on the use of proceeds for certain facilities (e.g. golf courses and massage parlors), " the bill indicates later on.
    And finally this last shot, that businesses receiving relief "do not include any private or commercial golf course, country club, massage parlor, hot tub facility, suntan facility, racetrack or other facility used for gambling..."
    Okay, since we all occasionally engage in a friendly wager on the golf course, I can take the gambling reference.  But massage parlors?  Sorry, that just rubs me the wrong way.