Carter's actual answer, though: he didn't want to throw away the money that had already been spent. Left unsaid is that the money in question represented a lot

Carter's actual answer, though: he didn't want to throw away the money that had already been spent. Left unsaid is that the money in question represented a lot of jobs, and congresspeople in certain areas of the country would have thrown a fit, and the last thing Carter needed was to further irritate Congress.