Arlen's Earmarks

Almost all members of Congress insert an earmark here or there to bring some pork back to the district. What they don't usually do is send millions home to the clients of one of your top aide's lobbyist husband. Arlen does. From USA Today:

Sen. Arlen Specter helped direct almost $50 million in Pentagon spending during the past four years to clients of the husband of one of his top aides, records show.

Specter, R-Pa., used a process called "earmarking" 13 times to set aside $48.7 million for six clients represented by lobbyist Michael Herson and the firm he co-founded, American Defense International. The clients paid Herson's firm nearly $1.5 million in fees since 2002, federal lobbying records show.

Herson's wife, Vicki Siegel Herson, is Specter's legislative assistant for appropriations. She deals with Specter's work on the Senate Appropriations Committee and its defense subcommittee, where all the earmarks originated. Siegel, who uses her maiden name at work, is a former lobbyist for defense contractors who has worked for Specter since 1999.

Later in the article Herson says, "I do not set foot in Specter's office as a lobbyist." Of course not, you don't have to when you have somebody working on the inside.