Earmark is a the term that dates to the 16th century, originally referring to cuts or marks in the ears of cattle and sheep made to show ownership. Today it is commonly used to refer to an institution's ability to designate funds for a specific use or owner. Earmark has different meanings in the fields of public finance and politics.

(CNN) -- Most members of Congress call them earmarks. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tried to get them called "legislatively directed spending." But for almost every American taxpayer I've run into over the last year, it's called "pork" and it's not very tasty.

Two ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators expressed opposition yesterday to "pork barrel" bills proposed by opposition lawmakers that would benefit only military veterans.

New legislation mandating earmarks and pork barrel spending to be fully disclosed, intended to reduce the tactic with gov transparency, has instead had the opposite effect. "Many lawmakers say the new visibility has only intensified the competition for projects by letting each member see exactly how many everyone else is receiving." NYTimes report

If you always wanted your own political soapbox, this may be the answer. User-content site Helium is partnering with the Sunlight Foundation & Center for Responsive Politics to expose legislative issues such as pork-barrel spending. Sunlight & CRP provide the topics, and Helium.com contributors provide the content. Throw in Your $0.02.

Earmarking legislation may lead to bad publicity. Phonemarking gets around the whole process without disclosure.