Kline, Who Took a Succession of Earmarks for Scott County Highway 21, Will Now Take Credit for the Project's Completion Despite Belief that Earmarks are "Corrupt"

August 26, 2008

EAGAN, Minn. – This morning, Rep. John Kline (R-Lakeville) will take part in the ribbon cutting for the newly completed Scott County Highway 21 (CSAH 21) – a project made possible in part by earmarks he secured but that he now calls “corrupt” and “corrupting.” (See attached invitation to CSAH 21 ribbon-cutting.)

“Far from being the champion of fiscal responsibility he wants us to believe he is, John Kline has been part of our fiscal problem in Washington,” said Steve Sarvi, Kline’s Democratic opponent. “Someone serious about fiscal responsibility wouldn’t have let our nation’s debt explode by more than $3 trillion on his watch – in large part to pay for the war in Iraq. Apparently funding for war is fine, but for Minnesota, it’s ‘corrupt.’ It’s just more evidence of how Mr. Kline isn’t serving Minnesota; he’s serving the president, his party and special interests.”

John Kline: Trying to Have it Both Ways on Earmarks
Kline Celebrating Project Made Possible by Earmarks, Which He Calls “Corrupt.” He’ll be helping cut the ribbon on the completed Scott County Highway 21 (CSAH 21), for which he helped secure millions of dollars in federal earmarks. (See attached ribbon-cutting invitation.) He now thinks earmarks are corrupt but will be celebrating their use nonetheless.

John Kline Has Called Earmarks “Corrupt” and “Corrupting.”

• “In Washington today, Congress decides how to spend many of your hard-earned tax dollars through an "earmark"system that is both broken and corrupt.” http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentary/27152894.html?elr=KArksLck...
• “’It’s corrupt and corrupting,’ Kline said.” http://www.thisweek-online.com/2008/january/25rmkline12608f.html
  

Yet while His Party Was in Power, Kline Gladly Accepted Earmarks – And They Exploded Under His Party’s Rule.

• “Although Kline may not get as much funding as others, whatever he can get helps Scott County, officials said. For example, on a project to expand County Rd. 21, he helped obtain $750,000 in 2003, $860,000 in 2004, and $2.1 million in 2005.” http://www.startribune.com/local/south/13548426.html
• “[E]armarks are the system everyone has to deal with. And Kline's refusal to take part in it could hurt them….‘We are proud of those projects,’ [Scott County Commissioner Jon] Ulrich said, adding pointedly, ‘... and so was he.’” http://www.startribune.com/local/south/13548426.html
• When Republicans took over Congress in 1994, there were 4,000 earmarks on appropriations bills. At the end of the 109th Congress in 2005, there were 15,000. (Washington Post, 1/25/06; The Gavel, 1/28/08) http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/28/sotu-federal-earmarks-have-exploded-...

Local Officials Are Left High and Dry by Kline’s “Ideological Position.”

• “About 40 percent of the money in the state's transportation budget comes from the federal gas and diesel tax, according to Tony Kellen, president of the Minnesota Public Transit Association, which is a statewide association of public transit providers, funding agencies and advocates. ‘To have these ideological positions that say you're opposed to earmarks,’ Kellen said, ‘it's not helpful until the whole system is changed.’” http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/house/24794494.html?page=1&...
• “'We wish he were in there fighting for those projects,’ Commissioner Jon Ulrich said. Commissioner Barbara Marschall said the collective reaction of the county's leadership after learning of his decision last year was, ‘Now what?’” http://www.startribune.com/local/south/13548426.html
• “[I]n interviews, commissioners stressed that that isn't the purpose for which they are seeking funds. “We don't take projects to him that aren’t worthy,” [Scott County Commissioner Barbara] Marschall said. http://www.startribune.com/local/south/13548426.html
  

Kline Voted Against Earmark Reform When Proposed by the Democratic Congress. John “Kline put politics over principle and voted against earmark reform legislation last January, because it was more important to him to obstruct the new Democratic majority in Congress. http://theklinerecord.blogspot.com/, http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2007/roll009.xml

About Steve Sarvi
Sarvi, the DFL-endorsed candidate for Congress in Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District, is running for Congress because he believes our nation needs to change course and that the people of Minnesota’s 2nd District deserve a representative who will serve the people – not the president, not their party, not big corporate interests. Sarvi is a decorated veteran of the U.S. Army and National Guard who served in both Kosovo and Iraq. He’s a former three-term mayor of Watertown, Minn., who managed local governments for more than 13 years. For more about Sarvi and his vision for changing our country’s course, visitwww.stevesarvi.org.