earmarks for Indiana

From Maureen Groppe in the C-J...

Despite a federal effort to cut back on earmarks, a massive spending bill moving through Congress includes plenty of local projects requested by lawmakers, including nearly $71 million sought by Hoosiers....

The increased transparency that lawmakers added to the process in recent years makes it easier to identify who requested the projects. But it also draws attention to one major criticism of earmarks -- that lawmakers on key committees get more funding than others.

Democratic Rep. Pete Visclosky, the only Hoosier who sits on a committee that writes the annual spending bill, got nearly half the state's take through earmarks he requested either by himself or with other lawmakers.

Two lawmakers -- GOP Reps. Dan Burton of Indianapolis and Mike Pence of Columbus -- have called the earmark system broken and didn't request any funding for their districts, a position that was both applauded and criticized by their constituents....