The Favor Factory

Steve Scher
03/03/2008 at 9:00 a.m.

Earmarks are government allocations of money that allow members of congress to fund their pet projects. Last year alone, spending bills contained over 18 billion dollars in earmarks. Investigative Reporter David Heath recently compared Congressional campaign contributions to the companies that benefited from earmarks. What did he find? How did he decipher the earmarks? What place do earmarks have in our government system? Is there anything voters can do? Heath's report The Favor Factory appeared in the Seattle Times. He joins us in our studios with his findings.

Guests:
David Heath is Investigative Reporter for the Seattle Times.