Kuhl, GOP Challenging Dems on Pork

From Congressman Kuhl:

Today the Democratic leadership is planning to unveil their massive appropriations bill, covering funding for nearly all federal agencies. To protect the American people from the thousands of earmarks and frivolous pork, the GOP leaders have assembled a virtual "Butcher Shop" to find and publicize scores of wasteful earmarks, pork-barrel spending, and harmful policy that will be included into the Majority's "omnibus" spending bill.

Just like several other critical bills, the Democratic majority is crafting this legislation behind closed doors to avoid criticism and debate. This means that I will not get to see or review any of the new earmarks until the final legislation is introduced. Hiding bills until the last minute goes against a promise that Speaker Pelosi made: "Members should have at least 24 hours to examine bill and conference report text prior to floor consideration." (Speaker Nancy Pelosi, "A New Direction for America," p. 24

I encourage you all to check out the Butcher Shop. This site will dissect what are likely to be hundreds of pages of legislation, looking for earmarks. It is vital that the Democratic leadership be kept accountable for their pet projects. The Butcher Shop is our attempt at making sure that they are not wasting taxpayers' money.