The danger of earmarks

What the public does not understand is that the more earmarks there are in a bill, the harder it will be to vote against it. The reason is simple: With every earmark, a congressman or senator gains a personal stake in the passage of a bill he or she might otherwise oppose.

Which brings us to the real scandal here -- that 8,500-plus earmarks adding up to $8 billion will end up sticking the American taxpayer with a $410 billion spending bill that is filled with large and significant provisions that have gone largely undebated.

Arizona Republican Rep. Jeff Flake understands the logic of earmarks. And he knows how lonely it can be to stand up against them.

"Look at the 2005 Highway Bill," he says. "This was a $286 billion bill that we knew we couldn't afford, with a record-setting 6,300 earmarks. But when the time came to vote, there were only eight of us who voted against it -- probably the same eight who had nothing in it."