earmarks

This past week the big talk in Washington has centered around “ear marks”. These are small appropriations attached to larger bills that bring home the bacon. For example the spending for military bill might be before congress and most want it to pass so some congressman will attach an amendment to the bill asking for $10 million for a local airport. This is an earmark and as a part of the total budget earmarks are chump change but they can persuade a congressman to vote for a large bill that he may otherwise not vote for and thus this represents the real problem with earmarks.