Join John’s Fight

Here are the facts. When Speaker Nancy Pelosi convened the 111th Congress in January 2009, she did so against the backdrop of an ailing economy. Rather than stop the financial decline in its tracks with sensible solutions, the Democrat-controlled Congress insisted on adding to our troubles with an ineffective “stimulus” plan and multiple taxpayer-funded bailouts. Americans know better: no amount of legislation will solve our economy’s ills unless we also address the reckless spending problem that is pervasive in Washington.

Over the years, the congressional earmarking process has evolved into a corrupt and broken system with no regard for merit. Both political parties share the blame for this wasteful practice that has eroded public confidence in our ability to marshal the nation’s financial resources.

I continue to hear outrage from Americans like you when they learn their hard-earned tax dollars are being spent on such “priorities” as $2.4 million for a retractable shade canopy at a park in West Virginia or $300,000 to market specialty potatoes to high end restaurants.

In 2008, with your help, I launched a “Stop the Pork” campaign to encourage Americans to sign an online petition showing Congress the broad disdain for wasteful spending and egregious earmarks. In January, 2009, I delivered a petition with nearly 7,000 signatures to Speaker Pelosi and Republican Leader John Boehner asking them to put an end to the wasteful earmarking process.

In November, 2010, I was pleased to lead the charge for a two-year ban on earmarks. According to the non-partisan Citizens Against Government Waste organization, 9,129 earmarked projects were inserted into the 2010 spending bills, costing the American taxpayer more than $16.5 billion.

Nearly four years ago, I was one of a handful of Members of Congress who took a stand by refusing to request earmarks. Instead, I pushed for a system that establishes spending priorities based on a project’s merit – demonstrating to the American people that he was serious about reducing wasteful pork-barrel spending and reforming the way Washington spends their money.

While we sent a clear message by banning earmarks, our work has just begun.

Please join me in this fight as we bring to light the federal government’s wasteful practices by fighting to rid Washington of wasteful pork-barrel spending that is burdening our children and grandchildren with insurmountable debt and threatening our nation’s future.

Serving Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District