Today, Americans for Tax Reform and its Center for Fiscal Accountability are urging members of Congress to reject attaching earmarks to the FY 2011 Continuing Resolution. Specifically, the CR currently contains funding for the wasteful Joint Strike Fighter F136 alternative engine, a program the Department of Defense has routinely argued it doesn't need or want.
We have discussed repeatedly how the funding fight over the alternative engine typifies all that is broken about Washington spending: the engine contract for the Joint Strike Fighter was competitively bid – when GE didn't win the contract, its complaints were rewarded with billion in taxpayers subsidies instead. Defense officials don't want it, but the political preferences in Congress override policymakers' concerns. The White House stood up for Department of Defense officials, excoriating the program and promising to veto legislation with funding for it in it, only to reverse itself when pressured by lawmakers. What's more, the growing cozy relationship between the maker of the alternative engine, GE, and the White House, prompts concern that that the alternative engine could be just the tip of the iceberg.
Congress has the opportunity to end this paradigm of profligacy once and for all. Tell your representative to vote for the amendment being offered by Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) that would strike funding for the alternative engine in the CR, being debated today. This vote could come as early as 3 p.m., so be sure to weigh in with your elected official now!