Wrapped inside the many Sopranos [1] references in Paul Kane's Capitol Briefing [2] today is today's must-read budget blog entry [3]. There are four appropriations bills up for a vote this week and the Republicans plan to gum up the works by forcing them to be read word-for-word. The tactic is a protest over the Democrats' decision to open up earmarks to public scrutiny, but not until August [4]. The House appropriations chairman is already warning that if the Republicans go through with this, there may be no earmarks for anyone [5].

Earmarks may be a small part of the overall budget [6] and pale compared to the long-term fiscal challenges [6] the country faces. But as a major source of political pork, they're incredibly symbolic when it comes to building the public trust the government's going to need in tackling the long-term problems [6]. So it's important that the earmark debate has a less-ambiguous ending than The Sopranos did [7].