Lawmakers stuffed more than 4,000 pet projects, totaling more than $8 billion, into an omnibus federal spending bill passed in March. But wait, didn't Congress ban earmarks back in 2011?
Yes, a Republican majority in 2011 banned earmarks, also called pork-barrel spending, in response to scandals like Alaska's $398 million "Bridge to Nowhere" and the earmark-related crimes of lobbyist Jack Abramoff. But because the rules Congress sets for itself apply only if Congress wants them to, the earmark ban has gone the way of other fiscally conservative reforms of the Tea Party era, such as discretionary spending caps.
