As it happens, I think all the hyperventilating over earmarks is kind of silly. Getting rid of them wouldn’t reduce the federal budget by a dime (the earmarked money would just go elsewhere), and in any case I don’t have a huge issue with senators having some say in where money is spent in their states.
Still, there’s plenty of hyperventilation on the subject, and you can certainly make a good case that it’s gotten out of hand. So as a public service, Taxpayers for Common Sense has itemized all the earmarks in the current budget and tallied them up by senator. The full spreadsheet is here. The top ten earmarkers are below — six Republicans and four Democrats. Keep their names (and party affiliations!) in mind the next time the hyperventilating starts to reach fever pitch on your TV.
