Journal-Gazette finds Lugar earmark disclosures

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Sylvia A. Smith, finds, to the best of my knowledge, the first online disclosure of earmark requests by a member of the Senate: Sen. Richard Lugar:

WASHINGTON ” Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., has asked Congress to set aside $3.5 million to help Navistar develop a hybrid Humvee at the truck company’s Fort Wayne plant.

The request is one of 31 he submitted to the Appropriations Committee as it begins weighing the lawmakers’ bids for pet projects in their states.

Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., has said he will not request money for projects he singles out. The process, often called “earmarks,” has come under increasing criticism as the number of requests has multiplied and as the federal deficit expanded.

Of course, he may not be the first, but again, to the best of my knowledge he’s the first to have his disclosures noticed. Now I’m trying to decide whether we should have a #wheremark-style effort for the Senate (note that these are appropriations requests, not transportation reauthorization requests..