To some, earmark is a dirty world associated with an animal that plays in dirt and can’t be eaten in some religions for hygienic reasons. It’s a term that has become synonymous with wasteful spending and special interests.

But to many lawmakers it’s also their lifeblood. A chance to secure some federal dollars for that parks project in their district, an opportunity to pose with a shovel at a groundbreaking for the local newspaper. It’s a way to say to the people back home, I’m still working for you.

There’s long been a tug-of-war over whether lawmakers in Washington should be dedicating money to individual projects or whether lump sums should be given to the local governments to decide where that money can be best spent.

Find out what Pa. lawmakers brought home the pork at Pennsylvania Avenue.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 18th, 2010 at 1:36 pm and is filed under Miscellaneous. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.