Candidates preaching fiscal discipline have a new line of attack to hurl at incumbents during this deficit-focused cycle: an increase in earmark spending in 2009.

Nonpartisan budget watchdog Taxpayers for Common Sense analyzed congressional earmarking for FY2010 and found 2,000 fewer earmarks but a $300 million increase in cost. The group also broke down each chambers' top 10 earmarkers.

A handful of candidates have taken up earmark spending as a campaign issue, including state Sen. Charlie Justice, D-Fla., who went public with his criticism of Rep. Bill Young, R-Fla., the day after the earmark report came out. Young was the biggest recipient of earmarks in the House, accumulating around $90 million.

"It is time for Bill Young to go," Justice said in a press release that also accused the congressman of funneling money to family and former staffers. "Bill Young has embraced the corrupt ethics of a bygone era and made it a part of the federal budget process. Until Bill Young is removed from Congress, the federal budget process cannot be healed and deficits cannot be controlled."

In Utah, Sen. Bob Bennett faces fire from four Republican primary challengers, including James Williams, who criticizes Bennett for lining up over $200 million in joint earmarks. The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Williams "would forgo all earmarks if elected" and for every earmark Congress funds, he "wants to see a corresponding budget cut elsewhere."

Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., who has undergone criticism from GOP rival Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey for the $35 million cost of his joint earmarks, finds Ramsey's attacks unwarranted, saying "I've funded the critical responsibilities of the federal government -- or helped fund them."

The leading Republican on the Senate spending panel, Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., received the biggest joint earmarks last year with a little under $500 million, followed by Appropriations Chairman Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, who earmarked about $400 million. Representing the same state as Cochran, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., came in third, earmarking $368 million, which was secured "largely as a result of riding the coattails of the senior Mississippi Senator" said the TCS analysis.

Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo., were the Senate's biggest solo earmark recipients with both securing around $100 million each.

While Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., made the "top ten" list in the House, she received about $40 million less than Young. The late Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., came in third, carving out a little more than $80 million.