Amidst the lulls of the August recess, The Hill, a Capitol Hill newspaper, featured a story on spending increases on the costs of earmarks, and I would be remiss if I didn’t at least bring it to your attention.

Democrats on Capitol Hill and in the White House are quick to point out that much work has been done on reducing pork barrel spending in the Capitol.

But according to a report published jointly by Taxpayers for Common Sense and the Center for Responsive politics, after tallying the earmarks in this year’s appropriations bill, it turns out that the cost of earmarks has actually increased! According to the report, $19.9 billion was doled out for earmarks in 2009 compared to $18.3 billion in 2008.

This report simply annunciates that our earmark affliction still dogs us, and its symptoms are immune to any one particular party.

To view it in full click here.