A report from the Office of Management and Budget finds that the number, and dollar value, of earmarks requested by Members of Congress dropped in Fiscal Year 2010, according to CQ.com. "The amount of earmarked dollars requested dropped 27 percent, from $15.3 billion in fiscal 2009 to $11.1 billion in fiscal 2010, while the overall number of earmarks fell 17 percent, to 9,192 requests."
While progress, $11 billion still isn't pocket change.