Fiscal conservatives grab for pork projects behind scenes =TheHill.com=

"Since Republicans took control of the House in 1995, federal discretionary spending, the amount Congress disburses each year through 13 annual spending bills and other legislation, has grown by a rate of about 7 percent annually.

And the number of earmarks lawmakers have put in the spending bills to steer federal funds to their districts has also grown. By one estimate, between fiscal years 2001 and 2002, they increased from about 6,300 to 8,300, or 32 percent.

Many conservative Republicans, most of them members of the Republican Study Committee, won office by pledging to keep federal spending in check, and to do so this year, they have, as a group, halted progress on almost every non-defense-related spending bill.

But, individually, behind the scenes, they have fought for a larger share of the federal funding Congress doles out each year, appropriators say."