Issues
GOVERNMENT WASTE
Finish Silvio Conte’s Mission: End Pork Barrel Spending
The late Congressman Silvio Conte would be ashamed of Washington’s glaring abuse, willfully setting aside of taxpayer dollars for the pet projects of special interests, often through last minute additions to appropriations bills. Pork barrel spending is an insult to taxpayers, a waste of public resources, and provides for special interests over the public good.
The incumbent channels hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars for pet projects to preserve incumbency rather than to meet national and district-wide needs. He has spent taxpayer dollars on unworthy projects like a movie theater in Amherst and a boarded up bank building in Greenfield. While many good projects have been funded through this system, too many bad ones have as well. The taxpayers of this district would be better served by having our best projects compete for funding from the Federal Agencies designed to administer these projects rather than the whim of any individual congressional leader.
No individual congressman’s take can outweigh the dramatic waste in billions of dollars for earmarks. We have all heard of the “bridge to nowhere”, buildings dedicated to the congressmen who fund them, private golf course funding, but there are thousands of wasteful programs that the public never even finds out about. It is time that we stop trying to win the game and start trying to change the rules.
Earmarks have doubled since 2000 and more than tripled in the last ten years. Nathan Bech believes the voters were right in turning out the Republican Party in 2006 for there abandonment of fiscal responsibility. What the last two years have shown is that the Democrat party is no more willing to end this system. This year the computer system in the House of Representatives crashed before the Easter recess because of the record volume of earmarks being filed at the last minute without committee review or even more than one sponsor.
Nathan Bech will not sponsor and will vote to completely end earmarks. He will, however, work with federal agencies to make sure they understand the importance of legitimate projects within our communities and ensure they receive funding.
Line Item Veto
Massachusetts, like many states, has a Line –Item Veto. It is an important tool that has helped balance state budgets. Far too often we see unpopular or wasteful legislation tacked onto vital bills. Giving President Bill Clinton the Line-Item Veto was the right decision to make. Nathan Bech supports a Constitutional Amendment that will restore the Line Item Veto to the President. The Line-Item Veto does not give undue power to the President, but will allow him or her to return unfavorable items to the Congress for reconsideration without delay.