Bravo to Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.)
Rep. John Kline is taking a lot of heat. He recently told county commissioners in his district he would no longer be bringing home the bacon. You can read about it here. This has really stirred things up in his district and CAGW discussed his actions on CNBC’s “Pork Watch” which you can view here.
CAGW wrote a letter congratulating Rep. Kline for his recent conversion.
Dear Rep. Kline,
On behalf of our more than 1.2 million members and supporters and taxpayers everywhere, I wish to commend you for making the decision to no longer request pork-barrel projects for your district. Citizens Against Government Waste whole heartedly agrees with the statement you made for the “Pork Watch” segment on which I appeared on Tuesday on CNBC’s Squawk Box that fighting for earmarks year after year is “preposterous” and that the “system is broken, corrupt and corrupting.” Indeed, activities surrounding earmarking has sent Members of Congress to prison and placed others under a dark cloud of questionable actions.
Earmarking has become an addiction; a recurring compulsion by Members of Congress to engage in pork-barrel spending, despite the long term harmful consequences to the nation’s economic health. It crowds out other important functions because Members spend precious time pursuing funding for special projects in their district, to the point of assigning a staff person in their office that is devoted to that one issue. Instead of working to bring federal tax dollars back to their districts, Members of Congress should focus on lowering taxes in order to keep dollars back home and in the pockets of their constituents.
Earmarking encourages Members of Congress to behave like mayors or councilmen, more interested in funding local roads, bike paths, hospitals, museums, or schools than addressing national issues. It has enabled local politicians to think of pork-barrel spending as “free money” and like a drug, they keep demanding more. In fact, local newspaper reports on your decision seem to indicate the greatest outcry came from county commissioners and mayors. This is not surprising. Now they will have to make the case before taxpayers that spending valuable tax dollars on buses for the Mall of America or other such projects are worthy investments.
Our founding fathers recognized long ago the problem with pork-barrel spending. For example, James Monroe in 1822 argued that federal money should be limited “to great national works only, since if it were unlimited it would be liable to abuse and might be productive of evil.” Your decision will enable you and your staff to concentrate on your job and why you are sent to Washington – to focus on national issues that are of concern to all Americans. Millions of taxpayers are grateful for your forthright decision.
Sincerely, Thomas Schatz, President
Filed under: Pork
[...] Bravo to Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.) Earmarking has become an addiction; a recurring compulsion by Members of Congress to engage in pork-barrel spending, despite the long term harmful consequences to the nation’s economic health. It crowds out other important functions … [...]