Rubio's history of $250 million in pork requests

Interesting articles all around. I really don't have an idea yet of who I would vote for here, but this article is pretty revealing. One part sounds likes something a shunned lawmaker from our area was involved in :shock:



Rubio's campaign image belies history of $250 million in pork requests - St. Petersburg Times

"One appropriation for Miami-Dade County was sought by lobbyists who worked at his law firm. Another item aided a friend's fight for a Florida Turnpike contract. Other proposals gave big sums to Florida International University and Jackson Memorial Hospital, where Rubio later worked as a consultant."


Also, the dems pursuing for an end to earmarks????:shock:
"Last year's defense appropriations bill contained 1,720 earmarks worth $4.2 billion, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, which constructs a database using disclosures required under rules put in place when Democrats took over Congress."


"WASHINGTON ? House Democratic leaders announced Wednesday that they will ban the much-criticized practice of using annual spending bills to direct pet projects to companies that often return the favor with campaign contributions.
Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., chairman of the Appropriations panel, told reporters that he hopes the step will mean 1,000 fewer earmarks and break the linkage between campaign contributions and earmarks that has sparked intense criticism and resulted in ethics probes of several lawmakers.
But the move sparked strong opposition from Senate Appropriations panel chair Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, his Senate counterpart and a long-standing defender of earmarking. He issued a tartly worded response defending the current system and calling Obey's move "quizzical."
The election-year step comes after the ethics committee investigated seven members of a Pentagon spending panel for rewarding earmarks to companies whose executives and hired lobbyists showered them with campaign cash. The panel found no linkage and absolved the lawmakers.
Republicans, meanwhile, are weighing giving up earmarks altogether in an appeal to voters frustrated with Washington's free-spending ways."


Corporate Earmark Ban: House Dems Plan To Cut Earmarks From Spending Bills