http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... QD9F278H00
Lost in the moment is this irony: Shelby's anti-spending message is being delivered in a government-built museum to which he frequently steers public money. The admiring crowd is made up of people whose livelihood depends on federal aerospace programs that drive the local economy. And the main point of Shelby's speech is to assure them he's fighting to stop NASA budget cuts and keep the spigot in Washington flowing.
Cochran, while calling Democratic budgets "dangerous," has grabbed more than $2.5 billion in earmarks over the past three years, according to the nonpartisan Taxpayers for Common Sense. That's more than any other member of Congress, Republican or Democrat, and it's almost as much as the $2.8 billion that Mississippi is receiving from President Barack Obama's much-criticized economic stimulus package. Shelby, who is coasting to re-election in November, isn't far behind with about $1 billion over the past three years.