For Immediate Release
December 13, 2001
Daschle ‘Porker of the Month’
WASHINGTON – While he continues to obstruct an economic stimulus package that will jumpstart America’s troubled economy, Majority Leader Tom Daschle has earned a dubious honor from a top government watch group that recently named the Senator their “Porker of the Month.” The group, Citizens Against Government Waste, cites Daschle’s insistence on putting partisan politics and paying off the special interests he is beholden to above the real concerns of the nation.
In recent weeks, Senator Daschle has fought relentlessly to increase spending within a $170 billion farm bill he and his Democratic colleagues larded with increased agriculture subsidies and a pushed through a $15.6 billion railroad workers’ pension. All this while Senator Daschle remains the sole reason the nation has yet to benefit from an economic stimulus package; a bill that the House of Representatives passed weeks ago.
Daschle has been so transparent in his attempts to gain partisan political advantage by holding the stimulus plan hostage, calling for outrageous giveaways and spending increases, that even some in his own party have raised an eyebrow at his ploy. Senator John Breaux, D-La., had this to say of Daschle about whether Democrats should accept the GOP's proposals in order to address Democratic priorities. "Is it a good political message to say that we gave up unemployment insurance and health insurance and stimulus checks … because we didn't like one [tax] rate being addressed? I'm not sure that's a good position to be in," he said. (Source: National Journal's Congress Daily, 12/12/01.)
© 2002 Republican National Committee.
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