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Working To Ban Earmarks

Jan 31, 2012 | Blog

After co-sponsoring the Earmark Elimination Act, a bill introduced by Senators Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) to permanently ban earmarks and institute a strict two-thirds point of order against pork-barrel projects contained in legislation, Senator Rubio has joined with Sens. Toomey and McCaskill again as a co-sponsor of S. Amdt.1472

S.Amdt. 1472, like the Earmark Elimination Act, would permanently end earmarks and could be introduced during upcoming debates on any number of issues.  Otherwise, the Senate Democrat majority would have to call up the bill itself and make it the focus of debate, something unlikely to happen with them in charge. Senator Rubio will continue to work to ensure the current freeze on earmarks is made permanent.

Earlier today the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report saying for the fourth year in a row, the deficit would exceed $1 trillion. The CBO report is another piece of evidence of the failure of Washington’s leadership on the debt issue. While earmarks are a small part of the deficit, it is a symptom of the larger spending problem.