The political benefits of earmarks

The bloggers at The American Prospect are looking at who benefits politically from earmarks and whether the Democrats would be smart to take away the only thing that Republican lawmakers can take home right now: pork.

Ezra Klein isn't sure if local spending projects matter to constituents and doesn't see evidence that those in Congress who refuse to insert earmarks--John McCain, for example--are penalized for it at the ballot box. But a smart commenter said what I was going to say :-) ... namely that as long as there's an earmark system in place, you can play the game either by securing money for your district or by railing against the system.