Residents of the 8th district must once again turn to media outlets outside of their own in order to get news on their congressman. Today the Indianapolis Star reports:

Two freshly elected congressmen who pledged to make their requests for special spending transparent are now joining most other Indiana lawmakers by keeping their so-called "earmarks" secret.

The controversial spending practice occurs outside the normal authorization process, providing millions to universities, airports, transit systems, municipal governments and private companies. Critics, however, label the spending political pork.
U.S. Reps. Baron Hill, D-Seymour, and Brad Ellsworth, D-Evansville, say they are not releasing their requests despite earlier statements because they want to respect the privacy of those who have come to them asking for help.

Pork spending totaled $29 billion, according to Citizens Against Government Waste, a nonprofit group dedicated to eliminating wasteful government spending. As we noted earlier, Ellsworth once said, "Members ought to be willing to put their names beside the earmarks they request. The public needs to see where their money is going and trust that it is being spent wisely." But this was a pre-election promise, and now that he's been in office Ellsworth has - once again - gone in a different direction. The Courier & Press has yet to cover the story.