Sunshine Sentinel

ORLANDO, Fla. – In case you missed it, today, as the Senate continues consideration of the appropriations package to fund half of the federal government, Senator Rick Scott wrote an op-ed for the Orlando Sentinel slamming the reckless inclusion of more than 6,600 earmarks in the bill that will cost taxpayers more than $12 billion. 

Senator Rick Scott wrote, “Washington loves to act like it is smarter than the American people – especially when it comes to deciding how to spend your tax dollars. It’s gross and couldn’t be further from the truth. Hardworking families in Florida and across the country know how the real world works because unlike Washington politicians, they actually live in it. So, when the press and Biden administration says, ‘Good news! Inflation is cooling’ nobody in the real world is buying it because they see that it’s a lie every day. 

Since Joe Biden took office, inflation has exploded 17.9%.

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Unless we see significant deflation, which will only happen if we cut spending, there won’t be relief from the massive damage that Biden’s inflation has caused. One of the best ways to cut reckless spending is to stop earmarks. Given that the recent “minibus” spending bill announced by congressional leadership had 605 pages of earmarks with 6,600 projects costing more than $12 billion, it’s clear that we have a lot of work to do.

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In the Senate alone, members requested more than 19,000 earmarks for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer accounted for more than 1,200 earmarks requests to waste your tax dollars.

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These earmarks aren’t a big list of the things that most Americans agree are core functions of the federal government like highways or our national defense. Here are just a few examples of what’s included in the FY 2024 earmarks list: 

• $1 million for an environmental justice center in New York City;
• $3.5 million for a Thanksgiving parade in Michigan;
• And $1 million for a social justice center in San Francisco to make building improvements. 

The U.S. national debt is nearly $35 TRILLION. That’s about $6.5 TRILLION more than it was when Biden took office. Here’s an even more disturbing figure: Since January 2023, the national debt has grown by more than $3 TRILLION.

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Earmarks cannot continue if Congress is serious about both paying down the debt and actually protecting the things that really matter to American families — like funding our national defense and protecting and preserving the benefits of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid.

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As someone who grew up in public housing and watched my mom struggle to put food on the table every day for our family and paid taxes all her life, I am especially furious at just how much failure in Washington is hurting hardworking families in Florida and all across the country.

That’s why I introduced a resolution in the Senate this week to condemn the use of earmarks...

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If nothing changes, the interest on our debt, which is already costing us $870 BILLION, this year – more than we spend on defense – will keep going up. If we fail, the government soon won’t be able to keep its promises. It’s time to put American taxpayers first and end earmarks for good.”

Original source can be found here.