Another Anti-pork Group Reveals Thousands Of Earmarks

By Martin Kady II

(The Politico)  Earmarks are nothing new, but the intense scrutiny of congressional projects has never been greater in the wake of last year's "bridge to nowhere" scandal.

The latest report, from Taxpayers for Common Sense, shows that this year's Transportation, Housing and Urban Development spending bill has 2,136 earmarks worth $3.1 billion, down 26 percent from last year. The group has created a handy spreadsheet so you can look up the dollar amount, a description of the project and learn which member of Congress requested the money.

The database has the usual list of road and bridge projects for the Department of Transportation, along with public housing program money for HUD. But what's notable in the Taxpayers for Common Sense analysis is the number of presidential earmarks highlighted in the data. President Bush requested 41 earmarks worth $1.3 billion, according to the report, while Congress requested about 2,000 earmarks worth $1.6 billion.

This spending bill has yet to be sent to the president, and will likely be rolled into an all-encompassing omnibus spending bill before the end of the year.