Congressman Boehner – a longtime opponent of “earmarks” and pork-barrel projects – led the fight for a unilateral ban on earmarks among Republican lawmakers. And judging by the response to a recent Cincinnati Enquirer article on pork-barrel spending in Congress, it looks like Ohioans are just as outraged over the wasteful practice as Boehner. Here are some quotes from recent letters to the editor:

“Arguments in favor of the earmark process make no sense … It should take more than one person from one state to spend money contributed by all the states’ people. … this process is a symbol of a broken Washington.” [READ MORE]

“Regardless of how worthy the project might be Congress has already spent our children’s taxes … We can’t continue to spend money we do not have!” [READ MORE]

“This practice is wasteful and expensive. … Democrats and Republicans let’s work together as a team and be responsible with the nation’s finances and future debt.” [READ MORE]

And here’s a scan of today’s opinion page:

Earmarks are only part of the problem in Washington where USA Today reports the deficit is “an estimated $1.5 trillion this year alone, equal to the entire federal budget in 1995.” Government spending is wildly out of control, and Boehner and reform-minded leaders are working to rein it in.

Click here to learn more about Boehner’s record of fighting to curb government spending and root out waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal budget. And click here to read about Boehner’s most recent plans to tackle the deficit and get the debt under control.

READ MORE:

• House GOP Adopts Unilateral Moratorium on All Earmarks (3/11/10)
• Boehner Says Obama’s “Debt Commission” Should Hold Meetings in the Open (3/3/10)
• Boehner Calls on President Obama to Start Cutting Spending Now (2/8/10)
• Boehner: Repeal Unspent “Stimulus,” Shut Down TARP, Add Spending Caps to Cut the Deficit (2/5/10)
• GOP “No Cost” Jobs Plan a Better Solution Than More Spending, More Debt (1/25/10)

Rather than wait for a “debt commission” that wouldn’t even release its recommendations until after the coming election, Congressman Boehner has called on the president to start cutting spending now to help rein in the deficit and create new jobs – and has outlined a real way to do it.

Boehner joined Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) in writing a letter to the president urging him to use his authority under the 1974 Budget Act to submit specific proposals to Congress for cutting wasteful Washington spending. They wrote:

“Here in the House of Representatives, there is no shortage of opportunities to vote on bills increasing spending or creating new programs, but very seldom do we consider bills to actually reduce spending or eliminate programs. … Since increasing the debt limit by $290 billion on December 16, the House has not considered one bill to reduce the national debt.  And now the House has voted to increase the debt limit by another $1.9 trillion.  We believe America can no longer afford to have its elected representatives delay action on proposals to reduce excessive spending.”

Boehner and Cantor both pledge to introduce stand-alone legislation for each of the president’s suggested spending cuts – and will force a vote on it if ignored by Democratic leaders. Americans for Tax Reform has urged the president to work with Republicans in this effort.

The question now is whether the president will embrace this call by Boehner and Republicans or continue along with the same jobs-killing agenda of more spending, more taxing, and more government.

According to CBS News, Republicans have also outlined a proposal for “repealing spending from the stimulus, returning TARP money to fight deficit reduction and cutting discretionary spending and adding real spending caps as the Republican budget did” – all designed to start cutting the deficit today rather than punting the decision to tomorrow.

None of this is new for Boehner. A longtime advocate for fiscal responsibility, Boehner has a distinguished record of fighting to curb government spending and root out waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal budget. For example:

>> In the 1990s he was key author of the Contract With America and a forceful advocate for legislation that led to the first balanced budgets – and surpluses – in a generation.

>> A well-known opponent of pork-barrel spending, Boehner often opposed legislation under Republican-led Congresses that were loaded with what’s known as “earmarks.”

>> As Chairman of the House Committee on Education & the Workforce from 2001 – 2006, Boehner helped identify and eliminate billions of dollars in government waste. The Wall Street Journal wrote in February 2006:

“What has garnered surprisingly little if any attention among the press corps is Mr. Boehner’s recent efforts to rein in large federal entitlements. In the past year Mr. Boehner used his chairmanship to champion significant reforms that could save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars in the coming years. All told, Mr. Boehner’s reforms account for 40% of the savings in the $39 billion Deficit Reduction Act.”

>> In his few months as Majority Leader in 2006, Boehner pledged not bring a budget to a vote that spent “one dollar more than the president asked for. Period.” At $2.8 trillion, the budget Boehner pushed through Congress was the first in several years to hold the line on spending – and weighed in a full trillion dollars less than the budget proposed by President Obama this year.

>> Boehner also led the fight to pass the first-ever “earmark” reforms clamping down on the wasteful process and making all spending requests public and debatable.

And that’s not all. Learn more about Boehner’s latest plans to curb spending and help small businesses create new jobs by clicking here.

READ MORE:

• Boehner: Repeal Unspent “Stimulus,” Shut Down TARP, Add Spending Caps to Cut the Deficit (2/5/10)
• Boehner to Democrats: “It’s Not the Message… It’s What You’re Doing” (2/3/10)
• GOP “No Cost” Jobs Plan a Better Solution Than More Spending, More Debt (1/25/10)
• Economists Back Boehner, Call on Democrats to Stop the Spending to Create New Jobs (12/17/09)
• Boehner Votes to Shut Down TARP, Use Money for Deficit Reduction (12/12/09)