And to reporters David Heath and Hal Bernton, for this fine article on earmarks.  First, some bottom line numbers:

People who benefit from earmarks generally give money to those who deliver them: Of the nearly 500 companies identified as getting 2007 defense earmarks, 78 percent had employees or political action committees who made campaign contributions to Congress in the past six years.

Though individual contributions are limited by law, people at companies that received defense earmarks gave lawmakers more than $47 million.

The 2,700 earmarks Congress put in the 2007 military spending bill cost $11.8 billion.  The Pentagon didn't ask for the money in its budget and, because its budget is capped by law, cuts had to be made to find room for the favors.

Second, a reminder that sometimes those earmarks are not just wasteful, but actively harmful.

In June 2005, Rep. Wu of Oregon arrived in Iraq and handed out free T-shirts to Marines.  He was promoting the wares of InSport, a Portland-area company that makes fast-drying polyester shirts.

Earlier that year, Wu and other Northwest lawmakers got a $2 million earmark in the defense bill to sell T-shirts to the Marines.  Wu said the shirts would be far more comfortable than the cotton ones the Marines wore under body armor.

But there was a big problem with these T-shirts, a problem encountered in the deserts of Iraq and in 1982 during the Falklands invasion.

Polyester clothing melts in intense heat, adhering to the skin.  "This essentially creates a second skin and can lead to horrific, disfiguring burns," said Capt. Lynn E. Welling, the 1st Marine Logistics Group head surgeon, who conducted research in Iraq in early 2006.

Months after Wu's visit, a Marine wearing a polyester T-shirt was riding in an armored vehicle in Iraq when a bomb hidden on the road exploded.  Even though the Marine wore a protective vest, the shirt melted in the explosion, contributing to severe burns over 70 percent of his body.  Doctors had to extract the shirt's remains from the Marine's torso.

But there is much more in the article, so you will want to read the whole thing.  And if you are in this area and don't usually buy the Times, you should buy today's issue.  When journalists, especially local journalists, commit journalism, we ought to support them.

And there is a bonus.  The Times has constructed an earmarks database, which you can access here.

Cross posted at Jim MIller on Politics.

(I have started digging into this problem myself, and have found some interesting patterns.  I may have some posts on the subject later.

And a reminder:  Earmarks are not necessarily bad in themselves.  But they are often abused, and it is no accident that two ethically challenged House members, unindicted ABSCAM co-conspirator John Murtha and James Moran of Virginia, are number one and number three in total money for earmarks.)