Ever since the country was founded, congressional lawmakers have curried favor with hometown voters by providing funds - known as earmarks - for local projects and favored firms. Recently, however, the number of earmarks has skyrocketed from 2,000 projects worth $10.6 billion in 1998 to 15,584 items totaling $32.7 billion in 2004. Defenders of such spending argue it aids valuable local projects like parks and after-school programs that might otherwise go unfunded. But critics warn that such pork barrel politics also fuels corruption. Former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., recently pleaded guilty to accepting $2.4 million in bribes to direct earmarked funds to defense contractors. Opponents of uncontrolled earmarking also complain that local "pork" projects take funds away from national needs. A current defense spending bill, for example, would divert money from troop support and Pentagon priorities to local defense contractors for lower priority projects.

Marcia Clemmitt is a veteran social-policy reporter who joined CQ Researcher after serving as editor in chief of Medicine and Health, a Washington-based industry newsletter, and staff writer for The Scientist. She has also been a high school math and physics teacher. She holds a bachelor's degree in arts and sciences from St. Johns College, Annapolis, and a masters degree in English from Georgetown University.