Tan Man Denied!

Steve Quast
February 16, 2011
PSC 105: T-TH: 5:00-6:15

2nd Current Event article for Poly-Sci 105!

Speaker of the House, Tan Man, Loses Pork Bill

Speaker of the House, John Boehner, a representative from Ohio, had to stand aside today, as a bill containing pork projects for his district was defeated. As Speaker of the House, Boehner followed the tradition to abstain from voting on the bill.

The Huffington Post website headline reads "Shot Down: House Kills Fighter Engine Reviled as Pure Pork." Even though many Republicans voted in favor of the $450 million earmark, a bipartisan coalition, made of many freshman GOP members, most of these members of the TEA Party, helped to defeat the bill.

The bill would have created jobs in Ohio and Indiana at Rolls-Royce and General Electric factories, but many, including the Department of Defense, say that this money is not needed for a second fighter jet engine.

Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla) introduced the amendment, and was saddened by the vote, saying that he could find $450 million to cut from other projects. Ryan Alexander, president of the Taxpayers for Common Sense, praised the vote, saying it was important to impose limits on wasteful spending.