The Times reports on how companies are dealing with congressional earmark policies.

Adopted because of repeated scandals over wasteful spending — the bridges to nowhere and expensive pet projects like a water-taxi service — the ban was intended to help eliminate earmark abuses. Critics say spending on earmarks, which added $16 billion to the federal budget last year, diverts money from higher priorities, typically does not require competitive bids and is often directed to experimental research that will never be used.

But given the appeal of free government money, the fees that lobbyists can earn by helping businesses grab a handful of it and the persistence of lawmakers in trying to satisfy constituents or donors, the pay-to-play culture in Washington has once again proved hard to suppress.