Congressional Earmark Hall of Fame

By Hall of Fame I mean those that don't ask for them, earmarks being those spending requests that various congresscritters insert into larger bills that often have nothing to do with the purpose of the larger bill at all.

I was under the assumption that most in congress submit earmark requests for their districts. In fairness, I can hardly blame them for doing so. Still, nice to see there's more than I would have expected that, at least some of the time, don't.

It's not a clear difference in political parties, either, as some would suggest. I count 36 Republicans on the list versus 20 Democrats. To hear it from some, the list would be all Republican. It is clearly not.

The Seattle Times lists the 58 congresscritters that didn't ask for earmarks in the 2008 Defense Spending bill. A few names of note: Senator John McCain and Congressgal, Lynn Woolsey, who I believe represents a district in the Bay Area(?).

A few noticeable names absent: Our very own Congressguy, Mike Thompson, Senators Boxer and Feinstein. No surprises there. A surprise to some, Congressguy Ron Paul, although his supporters point out that, while he makes earmark requests, he always votes against the bill to which they are attached.

A round of applause for the brave 58 is in order.

Addendum: Ooops! I must have miscounted Dems and Reps since 36 and 20 doesn't equal 58. Still, you get the idea.

Also, forgot the hat tip to Radley Balko, over at The Agitator for the link.