Looting the treasury

the real scandal is hardly limited to one oily lobbyist and a handful of members of Congress with their hands out. Or even a score of congressional members, if it comes to that. What may become the true scandal of our day is the broad-scale evolution of power out of the hands of elected people and into the hands of countless lobbyists and behind-the-scenes power brokers.

this to from the piece:

In 1982, Congress included 12 "earmarked" projects in its appropriations. By 1998, there were 2,000 of them worth $10.6 billion, as reported by Kammer. In 2004, that number had tripled to 15,584 earmarks worth $32.7 billion.

Not coincidentally, the number of lobbyists in Washington - people whose livelihood depends on lining up earmarked pork for its lucky beneficiaries - has mushroomed, too. They have doubled in five years to 35,000 determined souls whose one job is to beat down the doors of the 535 elected members of Congress.