The unnamed author of the red-hot white paper that defends home-state projects called earmarks is no longer anonymous.

The six-page document, which has been creating controversy on Capitol Hill, was authored by -- drum roll, please -- the Ferguson Group, which says it's the largest lobbyist for localities in Washington.

In other words -- shock of shocks -- the most active (and secretive) promoter of earmarks turns out to be a firm that specializes in obtaining them for cities, counties and public agencies.

Soon after my column on the paper ran last week, the company's president, W. Roger Gwinn, phoned to admit that his firm's seven-person budget and appropriations policy team wrote it -- initially to explain to clients why they tended to get more money from congressional earmarks than from federal agencies left to their own devices. It was later distributed to lobbyists and congressional staffers.

That's when it became famous as a bold defense for the much-maligned earmarking process.

The document's facts were used in an op-ed piece praising earmarks that appeared under the names of mayors of three cities represented by the Ferguson Group. The firm had a hand in placing that op-ed in the Washington Post, though it initially denied any involvement.

Now the white paper can be yours as well. The original document, scintillatingly titled "The Fairness of Congressional Earmarking in American Democracy," is at http://www.fergusongroup.us/earmarkcomparison.htm.

Enjoy.