"We didn't have earmarks in the Recovery Act. We didn't get a lot of credit for it, but there were no earmarks in that. I was confronted at the beginning of my term with an Omnibus package that did have a lot earmarks from republicans and democrats -- and a lot of people in this chamber. And the question was was I going to have a big budget fight at a time when I was still trying to figure out whether or not the financial decision was melting down and we had to make a whole bunch of emegency decisions about the economy. So what I was was, 'Let's keep them to a minimum.' But I couldn't excise them all." --BHO