Robin Carnahan Renews Call for Congressman Blunt to Disclose All Earmark Requests July 14th 2010
After Blunt says he will be “open and transparent” about earmarks, Robin challenges him to keep his word
Today Robin Carnahan renewed her call for Congressman Blunt to release all the earmarks he has requested and awarded during his 14 years in Washington since he has now pledged to be “open and transparent” when it comes to the earmark process. Just the other day, Congressman Blunt told his hometown paper that he would continue to fight for earmarks “in an open and transparent way.” Blunt has previously ignored the call to shed more light on the corrupt earmark process—refusing to disclose his earmark requests. During Congressman Blunt’s time in the Congressional Leadership in Washington, earmark spending skyrocketed - increasing 7-fold and costing taxpayers more than $225 billion. [Springfield News Leader 07/12/10; Citizens Against Government Waste, Annual Pig Books]
During his 14 years in Washington, Congressman Blunt has become famous for his pork-barrel spending and has even been called a “proud and prolific earmarker” and a “prodigious pork-meister.” [Politico, 6/5/09; Providence Journal, 2/6/06]
Until recently, members of Congress were allowed to sponsor earmarks anonymously providing a backdoor for giveaways to corporate special interests. Robin believes taxpayers deserve to know what they’ve been paying for and that is why during her Stop the Bull Tour, she called “bull” on Congressman Blunt’s pork-barrel spending and highlighted some of his most egregious government giveaways paid for by taxpayers including:
- $1 million for potato research in Idaho, Oregon and Washington; [Vote #507, 7/9/09]
- $500,000 for a swimming pool in California; [Vote #277, 6/14/06]
- $150,000for a grocery store in New York City. [Vote #334, 6/28/06]
“I was happy to hear that Congressman Blunt finally agreed to shed some light on the corrupt and secretive process of earmarks,” said Robin Carnahan. “However, actions speak louder than words so I hope Congressman Blunt will keep his word and finally tell Missourians what pet projects he has wanted to spend billions of taxpayer dollars on.”
Earmark Spending under Congressman Blunt:
Robin believes the system of Congressional earmarks is broken and has called for a ban on all earmarks to put an end to the secret, corrupt process that pork-barrel spending has encouraged.
