WASHINGTON–Sen. Claire McCaskill slipped off her fiscal-discipline diet Thursday when she voted for the $300-billion-plus farm bill, which critics have blasted as a pork-laden boondoggle for well-to-do farmers, the biodiesel industry, timber interests, and other beneficiaries.But the Missouri Democrat and former state…

WASHINGTON–So much for a new era of fiscal discipline in Congress.

Lawmakers filed so many earmark requests to fund home-state pet projects last week that they bogged down the House Appropriations Committee’s Web site. This despite a demand from President George W.…

WASHINGTON–Will the much-criticized scandal-plagued practice of earmarking survive this Congressional session? One would think not, given the rhetoric flying around Washington these days, where “earmark” seems to have become a dirty word.

But if you look closely, you might see lawmakers winking…