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发帖数: 897 | 1 Members of the Congressional Tea Party Caucus may tout their commitment to
cutting government spending now, but they used the 111th Congress to request
hundreds of earmarks that, taken cumulatively, added more than $1 billion
to the federal budget.
According to a Hotline review of records compiled by Citizens Against
Government Waste, the 52 members of the caucus, which pledges to cut
spending and reduce the size of government, requested a total of 764
earmarks valued at $1,049,783,150 during Fiscal Year 2010, the last year for
which records are available.
"It's disturbing to see the Tea Party Caucus requested that much in earmarks
. This is their time to put up or shut up, to be blunt," said David Williams
, vice president for policy at Citizens Against Government Waste. "There's
going to be a huge backlash if they continue to request earmarks."
In founding the caucus in July, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) said she was
giving voice to Americans who were sick of government overspending.
[How do deficit-cutters sell the U.S. on pain?]
"The American people are speaking out loud and clear. They have had enough
of the spending, the bureaucracy, and the government-knows-best mentality
running rampant today throughout the halls of Congress," Bachmann said in a
July 15 statement. The group, she wrote in a letter to House Administration
Committee chairman Bob Brady, "will serve as an informal group of Members
dedicated to promote Americans' call for fiscal responsibility, adherence to
the Constitution, and limited government."
Bachmann and 13 of her Tea Party Caucus colleagues did not request any
earmarks in the last Fiscal Year, according to CAGW's annual Congressional
Pig Book. But others have requested millions of dollars in special projects.
Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), for one, attached his name to 69 earmarks in
the last fiscal year, for a total of $78,263,000. The 41 earmarks Rep.
Rodney Alexander (R-La.) requested were worth $65,395,000. Rep. Todd Tiahrt
(R-Kan.) wanted $63,400,000 for 39 special projects, and Rep. Rob Bishop (R-
Utah) wanted $93,980,000 set aside for 47 projects.
[With jobs at issue, what is Washington doing?]
Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) takes the prize as the tea partier with his
name on the most earmarks. Rehberg's office requested funding for 88
projects, either solely or by co-signing earmark requests with Sens. Max
Baucus (D) and Jon Tester (D), at a cost of $100,514,200. On his own,
Rehberg requested 20 earmarks valued at more than $9.6 million.
More than one member can sign onto an earmark. Still, there are 29 caucus
members who requested on their own or joined requests for more than $10
million in earmark funding, and seven who wanted more than $50 million in
funding.
Most offices did not respond right away to a request for comment. Those that
did said they supported Republicans' new efforts to ban earmarks.
[Will Obama's winning campaign plan be used against him in 2012?]
Alexander, for one, "stands with his fellow Republicans in the House in
supporting the current earmark ban. Since joining the Tea Party Caucus in
July, he has not submitted any earmark requests and has withdrawn his
outstanding requests that were included in the most recent Water Resources
Development Act," said Jamie Hanks, his communications director.
Rep. Gregg Harper (R-Miss.), who requested 25 earmarks in the last Fiscal
Year at a total cost of just over $80 million, has agreed to abide by the
Republican earmark ban, according to spokesman Adam Buckalew. "He supported
the moratorium and the prohibition adopted recently by the Conference on
House earmarks for the 112th Congress," Buckalew said of Harper.
"It's easy to be a member of the TEA Party Caucus because, like them, I
agree that we're Taxed Enough Already and we've got to balance the budget by
cutting spending instead of raising taxes. Deficit spending is not new, but
the unprecedented rate of spending in Congress is," Rehberg said in a
statement emailed by his office. "Montanans have tightened their belts, and
it's way past time for Congress to follow their lead. The TEA Party Caucus
is about listening to concerned Americans who want to fundamentally change
how Congress spends their tax dollars. On that, we're in total agreement."
[For America's 10 wealthiest Congressional Districts, it will be more happy
holidays]
Bachmann's office did not respond to emails or phone calls seeking comment.
Still, some Republicans -- albeit none who belong to the Tea Party Caucus --
have said they will not abide by the voluntary earmark ban. And, said CAGW'
s Williams, the anti-spending organization isn't waiting with baited breath.
"Seeing is believing. It's going to take a lot more than rhetoric to
convince us," he said.
A list of Tea Party Caucus members and their earmark requests in Fiscal Year
2010, courtesy of Citizens Against Government Waste's Pig Book:
NAME EARMARKS AMOUNT
Aderholt (R-AL) 69 $78,263,000
Akin (R-MO) 9 $14,709,000
Alexander (R-LA) 41 $65,395,000
Bachmann (R-MN) 0 0
Barton (R-TX) 14 $12,269,400
Bartlett (R-MD) 19 $43,060,650
Bilirakis (R-FL) 14 $13,600,000
R. Bishop (R-UT) 47 $93,980,000
Burgess (R-TX) 15 $15,804,400
Broun (R-GA) 0 0
Burton (R-IN) 0 0
Carter (R-TX) 26 $42,232,000
Coble (R-NC) 19 $18,755,000
Coffman (R-CO) 0 0
Crenshaw (R-FL) 37 $54,424,000
Culberson (R-TX) 22 $33,792,000
Fleming (R-LA) 10 $31,489,000
Franks (R-AZ) 8 $14,300,000
Gingrey (R-GA) 19 $16,100,000
Gohmert (R-TX) 15 $7,099,000
S. Graves (R-MO) 11 $8,331,000
R. Hall (R-TX) 16 $12,232,000
Harper (R-MS) 25 $80,402,000
Herger (R-CA) 5 $5,946,000
Hoekstra (R-MI) 9 $6,392,000
Jenkins (R-KS) 12 $24,628,000
S. King (R-IA) 13 $6,650,000
Lamborn (R-CO) 6 $16,020,000
Luetkemeyer (R-MO) 0 0
Lummis (R-WY) 0 0
Marchant (R-TX) 0 0
McClintock (R-CA) 0 0
Gary Miller (R-CA) 15 $19,627,500
Jerry Moran (R-KS) 22 $19,400,000
Myrick (R-NC) 0 0
Neugebauer (R-TX) 0 0
Pence (R-IN) 0 0
Poe (R-TX) 12 $7,913,000
T. Price (R-GA) 0 0
Rehberg (R-MT) 88 $100,514,200
Roe (R-TN) 0 0
Royce (R-CA) 7 $6,545,000
Scalise (R-LA) 20 $17,388,000
P. Sessions (R-TX) 0 0
Shadegg (R-AZ) 0 0
Adrian Smith (R-NE) 1 $350,000
L. Smith (R-TX) 18 $14,078,000
Stearns (R-FL) 17 $15,472,000
Tiahrt (R-KS) 39 $63,400,000
Wamp (R-TN) 14 $34,544,000
Westmoreland (R-GA) 0 0
Wilson (R-SC) 15 $23,334,000
TOTAL 764 $1,049,783,150 | k**a
发帖数: 617 | 2 Tea Party里也有私心重的。更说明了反对猪肉项目的艰巨性。
你到底是想肯定茶党运动的宗旨还是想否定猪肉项目？
就像为后清辩护的傻婢言论，如果你上台也贪污。贪污到底是好事还是坏事？ |
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