Tell Your Senators to Support the DeMint-McCain Amendment!

Right now, Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) are offering an amendment to the 2009 budget resolution that will impose a year-long moratorium on congressional earmarks.

I urge you, before you do anything else today, tell your Senators to support the DeMint-McCain Amendment!

Earmarking invites fraudulent behavior, hollows out or national defenses, and diverts lawmakers' attention from important national business like saving Medicare and Social Security for our children and grandchildren. Many congressional offices even have one or more staffers dedicated solely to procuring earmarks.

A year-long moratorium is a critical step forward to stopping Congress’s addiction to earmarking. It will give members time to reform the process, devote more effort to critical issues, and help keep money in taxpayers’ wallets instead of being diverted to Washington where it can be converted into pork.

Time truly is of the essence. Please tell your Senators to support the DeMint-McCain Amendment to keep wasteful, pork-barrel spending out of the 2009 budget!

Thomas A. Schatz, President, The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW)