Earmark Ban Fails to Stop Lawmaker Requests for Spending
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The House last week more than tripled funding for an updated version of a Cold War-era tank the U.S. Army says it doesn’t need. If the vote made questionable sense to some watchdogs in an era of tightening military spending, it made a lot of political sense to lawmakers seeking to preserve jobs in their districts.
Even with a two-year ban on earmarks, or pet projects that often can’t be justified as national priorities, the action was the latest evidence that members of the U.S. Congress are still finding ways to deliver the goods for their constituents.