Recently the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wrote a three-part series entitled One In A Billion about the miraculous cure found for a young boy through the use of genetic sequencing at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin.

What the Journal didn’t discuss is how Children’s obtained some of the equipment that directly enabled the doctors to learn the genetic cause of the child’s disease.

Oh my God — it was an earmark!

Yes, an earmark: that so-called “scourge” of good government. The earmarking process can be misused (in which case the culprit can be thrown out of office).

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As we finish the 111th Congress, we are still talking about pigs heading to the trough verses helping the everyday economic woes of Main Street and our family’s hearths. This is why we need to demystify and clarify the earmark process rather than throw out “pork.” For now, earmarks remain an option for state and local governments as well as non-profits, so it’s time to find out if an earmark is right for your community-based interests.

Earmarks offer an opportunity for Members of Congress to direct funds to specific projects that address the economic needs of their communities.

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