The Swine Line

CAGW is quoted in a Weekly Standard article on “Republicans’ love-hate relationship with earmarks”:

Hey, Big Spenders

Appropriations seats are always sought-after, but this time as many as seven Republicans clamored for the prize. Contenders included vulnerable members like Washington’s Dave Reichert; Tom Cole, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, who wanted to use the position to fundraise for vulnerable members; and the pork-busting firebrand from Arizona, Jeff Flake.
…
Tom Schatz, president of the anti-pork group Citizens Against Government Waste, cites another reason why the number of pork-barrel projects exploded in the mid-1990s: “the belief…that providing earmarks would help vulnerable Republicans get reelected.”

Another sign the appropriations process is broken: legislators seeking a seat not to be responsible stewards of the public’s money (like Rep. Flake), but for self-interested political reasons.