Earmark is a nicer word for what used to be called pork: i.e., federal dollars designated for congressmen's local projects (like highways or rewards for big donors).
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) just sent a letter to his fellow congressmen, urging them to voluntarily disclose their pork projects. In part, his letter states:
"While the leadership of the Appropriations Committee forges a procedural shield to protect wasteful spending and thwart public scrutiny of projects, I urge you to counter this wrong-headed approach and join the handful of Members who have made a voluntary public disclosure on their websites of all FY 2008 project requests."
Apparently, Democratic leadership has recently encouraged pork spending (USA Today).
Consider one of Citizens Against Government Waste's favorite porkers: Senator Ted Stevens [who is not the target of a federal investigation--he was just ordered to preserve records relevant to the probe of his son]. CAGW gave Ted awards for the last seven years, for example:
2005: "for his $646 million in pork for Alaska."
2000: "for using the other 49 states as his 'porkline' while securing more than $1 billion in earmarks since 1991."
CAGW's extensive pork reports are here.
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