It used to be called pork barrel spending. Now the term earmarks is in style. By any name, Fifth District U.S. Representative Jeb Hensarling believes it costs the taxpayers billions of dollars and diverts funds from needed projects and services.

Hensarling who visited the Athens Review newsroom Wednesday, believes his fellow members of congress should start spending money more responsibly. In 2006, earmarks alone cost taxpayers $29 billion, according to data provided by the Congressional Research Service, that amount is more than the Department of Veterans Affairs spent on both medical services and research.

"An earmark is usually something that an individual congressman manages to slip into a bill that only benefits his district and usually has nothing to do with merit," Hensarling said. "It is something of local interest and not of national interest."