David E. Williams, vice president for policy at Citizens Against Government Waste, likened the effort to stamp out earmarks to a game of "Whack-a-Mole".
But benefit carwashing crews have at least one clear advantage: The money they earn is theirs alone and earmarked to a specific cause.
Both are said to be examining attempts by Mr. Espada — who was elected Senate president on Monday, although his elevation was being challenged in court — to direct legislative earmarks to a Bronx nonprofit group that he founded, Soundview HealthCare Network.
In my own district, I obtained an earmark to rebuild a bridge that not only was rated as deficient but also was identified by the Department of Homeland Security as a major evacuation route in case of a terrorist attack on Chicago.
He tried in vain for several years to secure a federal earmark to build a fence.
Mr. King asked Mr. Gingrich to respond to Mr. Romney's criticism that Mr. Gingrich, as speaker of the House from 1995 through 1998, raised earmarking to an art form.
Just three days after GOP senators proposed a ban on federal carve-outs, an eventually unsuccessful endeavor, Kyl locked up a $200 million earmark "to settle an Arizona Indian tribe's water rights claim against the government".
Ryan Alexander President Taxpayers for Common Sense Washington, Aug. 24, 2007 To the Editor: Rahm Emanuel offers his earmark to rebuild a bridge in his district as an example of the benefits of this special-interest spending.
Unless the money is earmarked to buy a home, a loan must be paid back in five years.
For example, in 2008, Congress used an earmark to require the department to provide $290,663 for the Citizens Committee for New York City Inc., to run a crime-stoppers program.
