Fimian slams Herrity for not supporting a ban on earmarks. The problem is, Herrity does…sort of
By Alan Moore | Thursday, April 15th, 2010 | PoliticsOn Tuesday, 11th district congressional candidate Keith Fimian called on his GOP primary opponent Pat Herrity to take a stand on earmarks. It was reported by Krystle Weeks at Bearing Drift and by me over at examiner.com. Fimian even went as far as to call Herrity “Connolly-lite” in his scathing release:
“I call on Gerry Connolly and Pat Herrity to join in me in swearing off earmarks and supporting legislation in Congress to ban earmarks completely and permanently,” Fimian said.
“I also call on Pat Herrity to join me in supporting a complete ban. Herrity needs to take a stand on this issue. Voters will have to make a choice, and they deserve to know if they are voting for another Gerry Connolly when it comes to earmarks and wasteful spending,” Fimian said. “11th District voters overwhelmingly oppose earmarks. They want to fire Gerry Connolly, but they don’t want to replace him with Gerry Connolly-lite.”
There’s only one problem, Pat Herrity already supports a moratorium on earmarks. From the “spending plan” outlined on his website:
“Earmarks are a relatively small part of the federal budget; yet they represent wasteful spending and propagate a culture of corruption and backroom-dealing that has infected both parties in Washington. I support the moratorium on earmarks. We need to restore the people’s trust in our public servants.”
**4-16 correction: Herrity supports a MORATORIUM on earmarks but hasn’t indicated support for an ENTIRE BAN.
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Alan Moore is a conservative activist and public relations expert in NoVA. Follow Alan on Twitter: @SecPress
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10 Responses to "Fimian slams Herrity for not supporting a ban on earmarks. The problem is, Herrity does…sort of"
Full disclosure – I’m a Herrity supporter. Amateurish unforced errors like this are not going to send Gerry Connolly into retirement.
[...] He’s also called on Pat Herrity to join him in this pledge, despite the fact that Herrity has already announced his support for the House Republican moratorium on earmarks. I hope Pat refuses to take the bait and support [...]
Keith Fimian bending the truth to smear another Republican? What else is new.
Well, there he goes again. Herrity is trying to have it both ways. A moratorium on earmarks is just Tom Davis doublespeak for “I’m not for earmarks right now, but ask me again later, I might change my mind.” Typical moderate drivel.
Herrity needs to take the pledge to end earmarks, otherwise he’s just quibbling.
Pat supports the moratorium, but not a ban. Because Pat wants money from all the lobbyists on page after page of his FEC Report when he is in Congress.
Did anyone see the debate today? Fimian called Herrity out for lying when he sent out an email this morning saying “I have never raised taxes.” Get outraised your first quarter in and caught lying in a debate the same day. I feel bad for Pat and his ego.
A moritorium on earmarks? Why not a complete ban? Does Herrity stand for anything? How about a moratorium on politicians that don’t stand for anything? A moratorium …. what a joke! So, when does he plan on lifting the moratorium, when somebody pays him enough to buy his influence?
The moratorium on earmarks that Herrity supports is the one that Congressional Republicans put forward earlier this month, championed by conservative hero Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.
We need Herrity to stay where he is; on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. It’s a win-win for all of us if Fimian wins the primary and then sends Connolly home. We will have a true conservative in Congress who isn’t a Tom Davis plant, and we will have someone to fight the libs on our Board of Supervisors in Fairfax County. Fimian is the right man for the 11th District and he can beat Connolly.
The ultimate irony in all of this is that earmarks (when used responsibly) are actually a good thing.
Somehow we as conservatives and republicans have been branded as the “no earmarks” people.
Ending earmarks sounds good, but in reality it’s an argument that’s more of a sound byte that politicians use because it resonates with people.
Cutting earmarks would not cut the budget, and not cut spending. That money has already been collected. If no earmarks were allowed, then that money would just be spent in different ways, such as given to the Executive to carry out foreign policy endeavors.
The money IS going to be spent. Would you rather it be at the discretion of the President and a government agency? Or would you rather get at least a fraction of that back in infrastructure for your community?
In reality earmarks serve as a a great way for the public to see just how the money is spent. At least then you’re not writing the government a blank check, but are able to see what projects your politicians are talking your money for.
Often we talk about “the bridge to nowhere” and lament how this is an example of earmarks gone amuck. In reality, at least that bridge was used by American citizens. Instead we’d prefer to end earmarks, give that money to the Executive Branch, and spend the cash on a bridge in Iraq? Doesn’t make much sense to me.
One Congressman says, “We’re going to spend 10 million dollars to build a school for children in Afghanistan” and people clap and say how noble it is…
Another Congressman says “Well, I want to spend 10 million dollars to build a school for children in Virginia.” and we say “whoa whoa whoa, you can’t do THAT, that’s an earmark! What kind of big government liberal are you anyway?
So “ending earmarks” sounds good as a talking point on the evening news.
Let’s cut SPENDING and TAXES. That is where the real battle lies. Talking about earmarks is really just a lot of smoke and mirrors meant to distract us.
[...] He’s also called on Pat Herrity to join him in this pledge, despite the fact that Herrity has already announced his support for the House Republican moratorium on earmarks. I hope Pat refuses to take the bait and support [...]
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