Bob Novak wrote about the earmark mess that’s causing this this weekend here. In part:

Stevens was prepared. ‘’We have to stop using Defense money for contracts with universities and basic research at the suggestion of a single senator,’’ he said. ‘’Not one’’ official from the military community, he said, ‘’came to us and said we needed more money for brain research.’’ ’’I plead guilty,’’ responded Durbin. ‘’It is an earmark.’’ He said he and Obama were taking money out of their earmarks to finance this. Characteristically, he played on heartstrings about 1,700 wounded soldiers returning from combat with brain damage: ‘’Would we want to at least err on the side of these soldiers?’’ That was enough for Stevens to tell more about dealings with a Senate colleague than is usually revealed: ‘’We had a total of $3 billion in requests from this subcommittee for medical research from other senators. We turned them all down. The senator from Illinois wouldn’t take ‘no.’’’ Stevens went on: ‘’We cannot do this just for one senator, and I have been a whip, and I understand what it means to have access to the floor and make a demand.’’

A reader notes:

This really is an example of how out of control the earmark process is when good earmarks are competing with nonsense earmarks.