Republican Congressman Jeff Flake, who represents Arizona’s Sixth District, today sent a letter to President Obama applauding his insistence that the massive economic stimulus bill exclude earmarks.
However, Congressman Flake said that efforts to make the spending process more accountable and transparent would be undermined if earmarks were included in the upcoming FY09 omnibus spending bill.
“It sends a conflicting message to taxpayers to say that earmarks in the stimulus are unacceptable, but earmarks in the omnibus are okay,” said Flake.
“Members of Congress will have no opportunity to scrutinize or challenge earmarks included in the omnibus, so I hope that the standard that President Obama has set for the stimulus is applied to the omnibus as well.”
