P.M. Briefing: Minnick launches BanEarmarks.com

Minnick said that the Congress must get serious about tackling runaway spending by the federal government, and urged people from around the country to sign his petition.  

"There is no more important issue facing our nation than the need to reign in reckless spending," said Minnick, a longtime Idaho business leader who was recently hailed as one of the strongest deficit hawks in Congress, of either party. "Banning earmarks and implementing a collaborative process to strike wasteful spending are positive steps in the path to more fiscal accountability."

The new website highlights two measures from Minnick, a freshman representative from Idaho who has made the fight for fiscal accountability a cornerstone of his work in Congress. 

The first measure is a proposal to ban earmarks, the practice of allowing members of Congress to set aside funding for specific projects without having those projects go through the usual approval process. 

"A move by Congress to ban the practice of “earmarking” money for special projects would assure American taxpayers that their money is being spent wisely and carefully, and would send a message that Congress is serious about controlling wasteful spending," says the petition at BanEarmarks.com.

The second measure is a proposal that would give the President and Congress the constitutional authority to strike specific projects from federal spending bills. 

"This process would give the American people the open and fair debate they demand on controversial 'pork' spending," the petition says.