Lets assume somewhere in Massachusetts there is a Veteran's Affairs Hospital with a Long Term Care geriatric unit.
And on that floor is a "family room" for private visits from loved ones, and in that family room there is a television set.
Now that television set is an old color picture tube model that doesn't work because it never got a digital converter. It still works fine, but no signal due to the recent upgrade thus said TV is useless in it's present state.
What do you suppose is gonna get that TV set fixed or replaced faster?
Filling out a request with attending paperwork and routing thru the Hospital Administration & on up to relevant senior bureaucrats in Washington DC?
OR
Persuading your local congressperson to attach an "earmark" in some pending financial legislation specifically allocating funds to upgrade all the television sets in that Long Term Care Ward and putting them on articulated arms attached to the beds so the elderly vets can watch The Game in their own comfy racks?
I'm thinking, that just possibly the earmark is gonna get the job done quicker.
But that is only a guess...
***
Unfortunately, the carbon footprint of Washington DC is about double from politicians ranting and raving about earmarks. These are the same politicians who were bought and paid for by giant corporations in the last election, sure they are willing to give up earmarks...It is the sort of faux reform that makes pundits piss themselves with happiness. Meanwhile thanks to the Supreme Court all these mooks in Congress have finally got access to the really big money...Who needs earmarks when there are millions waiting out there from Big Oil and Big Mining and Telecom Industries and the Healthcare Giants?
It truly is a Brand New Day for America.
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