Lawmakers try to save earmarks despite new spending bill

Earlier this year, Congress passed a major spending bill that it promoted as being stripped of all earmarks and a strike against pork-barrel spending. But even as the bill passed, a joint investigation by the Center for Investigative Reporting and the Los Angeles Times reveals top Democrats and members of both parties deluged government agencies with special requests to fund pet projects. CIR obtained congressional correspondence under the Freedom of Information Act showing 122 spending requests from 52 senators and 205 representatives in the wake of that "earmark-free" bill, including multiple letters from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. You can see the story from the Los Angeles Times here.