My father was a very arrogant and proud man. He looked like Dean Martin, spent money like it was pouring out of his ears, had very powerful friends (typical Italian) and defended his family’s honor in the most public way…

“While some of the projects in the bill make sense, their legislation is larded with wasteful spending. It includes $300 million to buy new cars for the government, $8 billion for high-speed rail projects, such as a magnetic levitation line…