Congresman Upton has an Epiphany

March 11, 2010 by WLKM

Congressman Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph) made the following statement in support of the Republican effort to ban earmarks.  The effort comes on the heels of a report released last week by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) that estimates deficits resulting from the President’s record-breaking $3.8 trillion budget will amount to nearly $9.8 trillion over the next decade – $1.2 trillion higher than the White House’s initial forecast.
            “The current earmark system is clearly broken and riddled with scandal – we must work to regain the trust of the American people.  Banning all earmarks is a big step toward getting our fiscal house in order.  The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has stated that the President’s budget is a blueprint for disaster that puts us on the fast track to financial ruin.  We are in desperate need of additional budget reforms, including the line-item veto and spending caps to ensure that we do not cripple the livelihoods of future generations….let alone this one.”

It is nice to know that the Congressman feel this way now. A year ago, he was one of only 16 Republicans to defy his party and vote for the Obama Omnibus Appropriations Act. This bill HR 1105 has 9,287 earmarks worth over $13 Billion. Read more about it here.