WASHINGTON, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Pork-barrel spending climbed this year even after U.S. politicians had promised to reduce congressional earmarks, an analysis released Thursday shows.
Earmarks, inserted into appropriations bills to fund projects, totaled $19.9 billion in 2009, up from $18.3 billion in 2008, The Hill newspaper reported.
The figures are based on an analysis by two watchdog groups, Taxpayers for Common Sense and Center for Responsive Politics.
"Earmarks and campaign contributions are part and parcel of the pay-to-play system that permeates Washington," Ryan Alexander, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, said in a statement. "Companies making thousands of dollars in campaign contributions get millions of dollars of earmarked taxpayer dollars from lawmakers."
Critics say earmarks detract from national priorities, but defenders counter they enable elected officials to help their constituents directly, the Hill said. The newspaper said earmarks made up 1.5 percent of the $1.3 trillion federal budget in 2009.
Alaska received $331 per capita in earmark funds, the highest amount of any state, followed by Mississippi and North Dakota.
Sen. Thad Cochran, a Mississippi Republican, received $1.22 billion in earmarks, more than any other member of Congress. In the House, Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, received the most, $217 million.
