"Earmark Idiocy"

"I'd assumed that an earmark is a one-off, piddly program some Congressperson wants for his or her district--the glockenspiel hall of fame, or whatever. These don't amount to very much cash--and a great many of them are entirely worthwhile: a new wing for the local hospital, a new lab at the state university--but John McCain and others have had a great deal of fun over the years ridiculing the bridges to nowhere and the grants for the study of crab sexuality. This year, in the full-blown heat of our deficit-cutting passion, both Congress and the President have decided to swear off them." 


Joe Klein, writing in Time, has more here.