About This Episode

Season Premiere online February 21th. Broadcast Premiere on Bill Moyers Journal February 22nd. Each year, millions of dollars are donated to Congressional campaigns by individuals and corporations. And each year members of Congress dole out billions of government-contract dollars in spending measures known as "earmarks," which are slipped into bills, often to the benefit of some of those very same individuals and companies who have contributed to their campaigns. Is there a connection between those two efforts? In an investigative series called "The Favor Factory," reporters at The Seattle Times take a close look at pork barrel politics by systematically following the money from the defense bills back to the campaign trails.