Rick is blaming the Republicans for the demise of the passenger pigeon? Clearly he should have kept reading Wiki... was used as cheap meat for slaves and poor... thus beginning how Democrats would get those votes...leaning towards government aid!
Now, were the Passenger Pigeons the first governmental aid program?
"The primary factor emerged when pigeon meat was commercialized as a cheap food for slaves and the poor in the 19th century, resulting in hunting on a massive scale. There was a slow decline in their numbers between about 1800 and 1870, followed by a catastrophic decline between 1870 and 1890.[6] Martha, thought to be the world's last Passenger Pigeon, died on September 1, 1914, at the Cincinnati Zoo. "