- Posted by Christopher Estep on June 13, 2008
My own senator, Saxby Chambliss (R), has made national news for his championing of pork projects targeted at the defense industry, totaling over a half a billion dollars:
Requests include ... $98 million for a Northrop Grumman project to develop an aircraft sensor suite, from Sens. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Mel Martinez (R-Fla.).
Chambliss was a part of another bipartisan group of lawmakers who also requested allocating $497 million to United Technologies, Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney for "advanced procurement or line close down costs," the watchdog group's data show.
I have sent the following to Senator Chambliss' office:
I was very disappointed to read in the Post that you, along with other senators, have requested over half a BILLION dollars in earmarks.
Yes, I realize that defense spending is very beneficial to my own city of Marietta and Georgia at large and I acknowledge that these requests may actually be for useful purposes. That's not the point. We are conservatives. We are supposed to be the ones who stand on principle.
Senator, this kind of pork and earmarks do not help America, even though you believe it will help you get elected. America needs leadership in reducing spending and earmarks.
If you want to rally your base and conservatives in general behind you, take a stand AGAINST earmarks and pork. Take a stand AGAINST farm subsidies which amount to agricultural welfare. Be a leader in opposing pork and you will gain a prestige in the state and the nation that will help your re-election far exceeding any benefit you may gain by the earmarks.
Continue to make national news with your pork and you will become another example of what's wrong with the GOP and why we need to change. Make us conservatives look like hypocrites (which you are doing) and you'll find that we may just let you lose.
Senator, we want a candidate and a legislator we can stand behind and get excited about. We want people to be able to point to you as an example of what is RIGHT with Georgia and with the GOP instead of what's wrong with it.
I'm pretty sure that this isn't what is meant by the Feed the Pig campaign.
Earmark Spending Makes a Comeback - washingtonpost.com