What is a Slush Fund?
The slush fund is every corrupt politician’s or government’s ideal, a secret stockpile of money skimmed from an otherwise legal or secret source. It can also become the same corrupt politician’s or government’s downfall when word leaks out and the slush funds are exposed. The phrase slush fund brings to mind corruption, illegal deals and illegally obtained sums of money. History is littered with numerous examples of the slush fund in action. It is mainly associated with politicians, governments and corporations. There are some innocent examples of a slush fund, such as monies that are kept aside by companies for purposes such as entertainment. The term is also used by many businesses to describe funds used for extra travel and entertainment expenses. However, the term slush fund generally refers to money that cannot be legally accounted for. It has been well proven by many an intrepid investigative journalist that slush funds operate in every possible scenario. Virtually every governme
In politics a slush fund is a campaign fund collected to influence public opinion by improper or illegal means. The term originated in the British Navy. It was formerly customary on war vessels to sell slush and other refuse to raise a fund for the benefit of the enlisted men. Originally, the slush consisted of fat, grease and other refuse from the cook’s gallery not needed for slushing the masts and spars. There is an old verb to slush, meaning to grease or lubricate with slush. Later the slush fund was raised by selling worn out equipment, personal effects left on board ships by deserters, etc. Army camps and garrisons adopted this custom and also raised slush funds. # # # Why are white and black balls used for voting in various organizations? This is a survival of the method used by the ancient Greeks. In many of their elections the Greeks used an urn to represent each candidate. Voters would toss a white pebble into the urn of the candidate he favored and a black one if he wished t
What does Milk & Bread mean? More about that in a moment. On your next payday, go to the ATM and withdraw the total amount of cash needed to cover your expenses. Yes, all of it. Go straight home with your money. Take out your expense list and your labeled baggies. Start with the biggest expense. Peel the correct amount from your cash pile and “deposit” directly into the relevant baggie. Repeat with remaining amounts. With the filled baggies, find a safe spot to “hide” them for the time being. Some worry about the security of having large amounts of cash in the home, but you can alleviate some of the worry by investing in a cheap lockable cash-box, or trying some “alternative” means of hiding the cash. Just make sure not to store all of the baggies together. When grocery day comes around, find the Grocery baggie and put that bag only into your purse, leaving the rest hidden at home. The idea is to only take with you what cash you need for that day. After a while, it will become second n
If you’re feeling pinched in these difficult economic times, you may be thinking that you need to do more in terms of savings. As yourself the some questions and see if you can answer them. Do you have a healthy savings account? Is there cash stored away in case of an emergency? If you do, you have what’s sometimes referred to as a “slush fund.” A slush fund is a fund for loose, unallocated money that can be used for various situations as they arise. The term “slush fund” has a fascinating origin in nautical history. Back in the olden days, the men on the sailing boats of long ago would boil their salted meat on long journeys. Fat and other material would boil off, and it was called “slush.” When their ship arrived on port, they would sell the slush and make some extra money for whatever the men wanted buy. So, these sums of money became known as the slush fund. These days, a slush fund has become associated with being a very negative connotation. Generally speaking, a slush fund is us
