More than anything else, this one program threatens the long-term federal budget.

Yes, it's true that earmarks are only 1 percent of all federal spending, but earmarks have a cultural effect on Congress that is much larger than their cost. It fuses Congress together with lobbyists and creates a culture of government spending as a means to re-election, which bleeds into other areas.

The outlook for the Federal budget is bleak.

Who punishes one threatens a hundred

The term 'cost shifting,' as I use it, refers to those items in a university's budget that used to be reimbursed by the federal government but are no longer paid for by them.

It's about time lawmakers sacrifice pork projects that essentially serve as taxpayer-financed re-election advertisements.