It’s not news that presidents from both political parties have used well-timed decisions on federal grant applications to help persuade recalcitrant senators and representatives to vote for bills they would otherwise oppose. The usual tactic involved giving advance word of a grant decision to a favored senator or representative, who then took credit for “bringing home the bacon.” The participants were careful not to be too blatant about what had happened behind the scenes — namely, that federal tax dollars had been awarded in return for promised votes in Congress.