State hogs funding of earmarks

The Sun Herald, 2/14/8

We’re No. 1!

Mississippi lawmakers ranked first in the House and in the Senate in a comprehensive study of earmarks being released today by Taxpayers for Common Sense, a group sharply critical of the practice.

That gives Mississippi Republicans Sen. Thad Cochran and Sen. Roger Wicker, formerly a congressman, a dubious distinction, according to TCS.

“Earmarks are part and parcel of the pay-to-play system in Washington,” said TCS spokesman Steve Ellis. “Instead of making funding decisions on the basis of project merit, we’re making them based on political muscle.”