Key Vote YES on Motion to Reduce Spending in the Transportation Bill

Dear FreedomWorks member,

As one of our million-plus FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to contact your representative and urge him or her to vote YES on a procedural motion offered by Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA). The motion would instruct conferees committee members to insist on capping spending for the new federal highway bill at $37.5 billion. This would cut transportation spending by approximately one-third to roughly equal the amount of money brought in by the federal gas tax. This motion would ensure that we live within our means and no longer use general funds for transportation programs.

The current level of spending in the transportation bill is outrageously high. Spending on highway and transit programs continue to outpace revenue coming into the Highway Trust Fund (HTF). It is inexcusable that taxpayers have been forced to bailout the HTF multiple times since 2009. By making funding levels consistent with the amount of revenue being collected, this will prevent future taxpayer funded bailouts of the HTF.

We cannot afford to spend money that we do not have. Limiting spending to revenue is a common sense proposal that will cut wasteful spending and protect taxpayers. This motion would help restore fiscal sanity by cutting out billions of dollars out of the bloated Transportation Bill.

I urge you to call your representatives and ask them to vote YES on the procedural motion offered by Rep. Paul Broun to limit spending in the Transportation Bill. We will count their vote as a KEY VOTE when calculating the FreedomWorks Economic Freedom Scorecard for 2012. The Economic Freedom Scorecard is used to determine eligibility for the Jefferson Award, which recognizes members of Congress with voting records that support economic freedom.

Sincerely,

Matt Kibbe
President and CEO
FreedomWorks
[Click here for a PDF version of this key vote notice.]