Earmarks or Pillowmarks?

Senator Arlen Specter is the latest victim of the Republican earmarks/lobbying scandal:

The Pennsylvania Republican lawmaker’s statement was in response to a USA Today report published Thursday which said Specter had succeeded 13 times over the past four years in securing $48.7 million worth of defense projects for six clients represented by a lobbying firm co-founded by Michael Herson.

Herson is the husband of Vicki Siegel Herson, Specter’s legislative assistant for appropriations.

My favorite line of the article is the one after this quote, that says Mr. Herson didn’t lobby his office. Yeah, maybe not his office during office hours, but how about his staff at bedtime?

Seriously, did Specter thinking hiring the wife of a lobbyist to do appropriations work wouldn’t cause problems for him and his use of earmarks? How dumb can you get?