Critics: Time to go lean on political pork

The Indianapolis Star reports:

Separate lobbying and bribery scandals have prompted some lawmakers to suggest cutting back or eliminating such special project funding.
That might not be bad news for Indiana. The state usually ranks among the bottom third in congressionally directed funding, in part because Indiana doesn't have lawmakers in positions to grab it.
In the 2006 budget passed last year, two states got less of the "earmark" funding per capita than Indiana, according to Citizens Against Government Waste, a taxpayer watchdog group.
An "earmark" is a line item in a bill targeting money for a specific purpose, usually in a state or city, according to the definition used by the group Citizens Against Government Waste. If the earmark is obtained outside normal budget procedures, the group calls it "pork."
Indiana got $16 per Hoosier; Alaska got $490 per person.
"When you have states like Alaska and Hawaii getting the lion's share of the pork and other states like Indiana on the bottom of the list, well, there needs to be a level playing field," said David Williams, vice president for policy for Citizens Against Government Waste.

You'll want to read the whole thing to find out about money wasted lobbying.