He practiced this in the mirror. The paper clip is from his own desk.
Capitol dome in the background, gold bars stacked on a cart, and a paper clip between the politician’s thumb and forefinger. He’s handing it to a man whose coat has seen better decades. The cart does not enter the conversation; it never does. This is the whole stimulus bill in one painting: the money is visible, the money is countable, and the money is going the other direction. The paper clip is the line item with your name on it, and it was bent before he fished it from his pocket.