I'll have to admit, I've seen a lot of discussion about "earmarks," and find it hard to determine between an earmark and some of the other programs that makes really good sense.
               People who complain about money being spent as "stimulus" that doesn't actually employ folks seem to have a pretty good point, though, it seems to me.
               One of the things I've seen the state of Oregon doing is spending a lot of the money on asphalt paving, which, compared to other types of construction, really doesn't employ a lot of people and requires huge amounts of petroleum to boot.