fiscal duplicity | florida center for investigative reporting

7/31/2019 Fiscal Duplicity|Florida Center for Investigative Reporting

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Fiscal Duplicity

Published on October 18, 2010. Tags: Adam Putnam, Ander Crenshaw, Bill Young, Center for Public

Integrity, Cliff Stearns, Connie Mack, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, George LeMieux, Gus Bilirakis,

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Jeff Miller, John Mica, Kendrick Meek, Lettermarking, Lincoln Diaz-Balart,

Mario Diaz-Balart, Stimulus, Thomas Francis, Tom Rooney

http://fcir.org/2010/10/18/fiscal-dupl


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About This Story

The Florida Center for

Investigative

Reporting examinedFlorida lettermarking

in partnership with the

Center for Public

Integrity, which

produced a national

Floridas congressional delegation used a behind-the-scenesprocess known as lettermarking to bring home federalstimulus money

By Thomas Francis

Florida Center for Investigative Reporting

Nota del Editor: Usted puede leer esto en Espaol.

On the same morning in February 2009 that President Barack Obama promoted the federal economicstimulus plan in Fort Myers, U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, a Republican from Lee County, appeared on

MSNBCsMorning Joe to criticize that same legislation.

In a letter to Obama that was read on the cable news channel, Mack

described the bill as being full of earmarks, pork-driven projects

and liberal-spending programs.

Other Florida Republicans, who warned that the stimulus plan was

part of a tax-and-spend culture in Washington, D.C., that would

bankrupt the nation, shared Macks view. They cited that belief in

casting votes against the American Recovery and Reinvestment Actin January 2009.



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report on the issue.

From theReporter

Listen to Tampa Baypublic broadcasting

station WUSF

89.7FMs interview

with reporter Thomas

Francis.

Reprint ThisStory

FCIRs lettermarkingstory is available to

approved Florida news

media. Request

permission.

Interactive Map

Review Floridas

lettermarking using

FCIRs interactive

map.



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U.S. Rep. Connie Mack

But seven months later, Mack wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation asking for $29

million in stimulus funds to improve railroad infrastructure in his district.

Through a spokesperson, Mack defended his apparent double standard on stimulus spending.

Congressman Mack will always fight for his districts growing infrastructure needs, said Stephanie

DuBois, Macks press secretary. Unfortunately, the stimulus plan fell well short of stimulating

anything other than big government.

Macks attempt to steer stimulus money to his district has become known on Capitol Hill as

lettermarking a process similar to earmarking but regarded by government watchdogs as an even

less transparent tool for winning federal funds for pet projects.

Based on a review of records by the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit investigative journalism

organization in Washington D.C., and the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, Republicans

from throughout the Sunshine State pushed to steer millions of stimulus dollars to their districts

despite having joined Macks public outcry against federal spending. In interviews with FCIR, these

Republicans said its their duty to win constituents share of federal spending, even if they disagree

with that federal spending.

The hypocrisy is really just astonishing, said U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, who

is a vice chair of the Democratic Partys incumbent retention program for next months midterm

election. So many of these Republican members of Congress are one person in Washington and

another person when they go to their district, and their constituents should know this.

While Obama and the Democratic Party promised transparency in the $787 billion stimulus bill,

Democrats in Congress also participated in lettermarking. Bureaucrats in Washington have final say

on where federal stimulus money is spent, and its unclear how many lettermarked projects were

funded or will be funded in Florida. Nonetheless, Republicans and Democrats alike used

lettermarking as a way to influence the outflow of stimulus money.



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U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw

U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Jacksonville, was among Floridas lettermarking lawmakers. In January

2009, Crenshaw said his vote against the stimulus was a vote against debt and big government. Yet,

in October of that year, he authored letters asking the administration to use stimulus dollars to fund

two major transportation projects in his district.

In an e-mailed statement, Crenshaw asserted that he consistently voted against bloated spending

packages. But he added: Jacksonville should have every possible opportunity to access available

federal dollars, just like every other metropolitan region in the nation, even if I opposed the stimulus

funding measure.

In late January 2009, U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Palm Harbor, told a Tampa Bay area cable news

channel that the stimulus bill was a lot of pork, but in September of that year, he asked for a piece

$16 million in highway funds to widen Tampas Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, a major thoroughfare

in his district.

Bilirakis did not respond to requests for comment.

Three Miami Republicans U.S. Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Mario Diaz-Balart and Ileana

Ros-Lehtinen criticized the scope of the stimulus package, but they banded together in September

2009 by signing a letter that requested $106 million in stimulus funds for a project to improve

Miamis NW 25th Street Viaduct.

Joining those three Republicans were Democrats Wasserman Schultz and U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek of

Miami, the Democratic Partys nominee for U.S. Senate. Since Democrats promised transparency in

the stimulus bill, lettermarking could be viewed as a violation of that promise.

Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Ros-Lehtinen and Meek did not respond to requests for comment.

For his part, Mario Diaz-Balart insists hes consistent in his position on the stimulus. Since Florida

taxpayers have already been raided by this administration, you better believe that Im going to fight to

get those (stimulus) projects to come to Florida, he said.



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U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam

In a January 2009 statement, U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Bartow, expressed disgust for what he called

a pork-laden pie, only to request part of that pie in August 2009 for a biorefinery project at his alma

mater, the University of Florida.

Putnam, who is running for commissioner of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer

Services, e-mailed a statement to reconcile his opposition to the stimulus with his advocacy for the

biorefinery project: Even if you lose a vote on the floor of the House and a measure you oppose

becomes law, a congressman has a responsibility to remain engaged in the process. If you believe a

law is bad, then it is your responsibility to work to make it less bad.

U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, a Republican, did not cast a vote on the stimulus bill because he didnt

join Congress until Gov. Charlie Crist appointed him in fall 2009 to replace retiring Sen. Mel

Martinez. But LeMieux soon established himself as one of the GOPs most forceful critics of big

government.

On Oct. 21, 2009, LeMieux devoted his first speech as senator to what he called our nations

spending problem, which he described as out of control and unsustainable.

LeMieux did not mention that on the day before his speech, he had written a letter to the

Transportation Department in which he asked for more than $65 million for a bus and train center in

Jacksonville.

During the same period, LeMieux, who said he would have voted against the federal stimulus

package, was fighting for billions in federal funding for the construction of a high-speed rail between

Tampa and Orlando.

On Nov. 6, 2009, in another speech before the Senate, LeMieux again scolded Congress for its

spendthrift ways. Both sides of the aisle talk about fiscal restraint and fiscal discipline, he said. Yet

we keep spending more than we have.



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U.S. Sen. George LeMieux

But 11 days later, LeMieux sent a letter to Transportation Department officials asking that they award

stimulus funds to Charlotte Countys Gateway Harbor Walk.

Challenged to reconcile LeMieuxs opposition to federal spending with his aggressive pursuit offederal funds, the senators spokesperson, Jessica Garcia, said: The difference is between fighting to

prevent the spending in the first place and advocating for your states fair share once the money is sent

out of Washington. There is no question government needs to rein in spending, but if Floridas

families are upset about the stimulus, think how they would feel if all the money was spent

elsewhere.

After Obama signed the stimulus bill into law on Feb. 17, 2009, the power to select recipients of

stimulus funds shifted to federal agencies, which is why these agencies were deluged with

lettermarking requests from members of Congress. Even politicians who criticized lettermarking

participated in the process.

Wasserman Schultz, the Broward County Democrat, has objected publicly to lettermarking for its lack

of transparency. It allows (lawmakers) to bring home federal funds based on a decision made by

some bureaucrat who isnt accountable to voters in the same way as a member of Congress, she said.

But at the same time, Wasserman Schultz used lettermarking to advocate for seven projects, including

a $58.3 million overpass near Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale and several broadband Internet

infrastructure improvements in South Florida.

In an e-mailed statement, Wasserman Schultzs press secretary, Jonathan Beeton, pointed out that

Republicans stated that they are against any types of earmarks but then turned around and tried to

secure funds without disclosure, and that is disingenuous. The Democratic Congress, Beeton said,has enhanced disclosure of earmarks by requiring that appropriation requests be published on

legislators websites.

Steve Ellis, vice president of Washington-based Taxpayers for Common Sense, said lettermarking was

inevitable for congressional members of both parties.



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Letters to theEnergyDepartment

Crenshaw (PDF)

Putnam (PDF)

Rooney (PDF)

Letters to theCommerceDepartment

Various (PDF)

Letters to theTransportationDepartment

Bilirakis (PDF)

Like nature, Congress abhors a vacuum, he said. After the legislation passed, lawmakers quickly

stepped in to try to dictate how those funds were spent, no matter how vehemently those same

lawmakers opposed the federal spending in the first place.

Its a have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too approach to legislation, Ellis added.

U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Ocala, offers a clear example of the approach Ellis described.

U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns

Stearns voted against the stimulus bill, telling a gathering of fiscal

conservatives that too many members (of Congress) do not realize the

serious threat of excessive federal spending and borrowing.

But in September 2009, eight months after the stimulus vote, the Ocala

Republican wrote a letter to Transportation Department officials

requesting $79 million in stimulus money for a project to improveinfrastructure of a port in Jacksonville. In November of that year, Stearns

composed a letter asking the same officials to fund a project at

Jacksonville International Airport, in addition to another letter on behalf

of Gainesville officials seeking recovery funds for road projects.

Stearns congressional office did not respond to requests for comment.

I think its disingenuous to argue against the stimulus on one hand and

then to ask for those funds in the next breath, said Doug Guetzloe, the

chief strategist for the Florida Tea Party, which has registered as a

political party. I think this is a problem that Congress has and that itsthe reason its approval ratings are so low there is so much duplicity.

U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fort Walton Beach, eviscerated the stimulus

proposal in January 2009. The leadership of Congress is out of touch

and intoxicated by their power, and it intends to bankrupt the country by

funding programs no one needs, he said in a statement after the



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Crenshaw (PDF)

Diaz-Balart,

Diaz-Balart,

Ros-Lenhtinen

(PDF)

Diaz-Balart (PDF)LeMieux (PDF)

Mack (PDF)

Mica (PDF)

Miller (PDF)

Rooney (PDF)

Stearns (PDF)

Young (PDF)

legislation passed the House.

Months later, Miller struck a more solicitous tone in letters to

Transportation Department officials. He asked that they use millions in

stimulus dollars to fund 10 separate projects in his Panhandle district,

including hundreds of miles of improvements to roads and the

replacement of more than 100 bridges.

In yet another example, U.S. Reps. Bill Young, R-Indian Shores, John

Mica, R-Winter Park, and Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, voted against the

stimulus. But all three wrote letters to the Transportation Department

seeking stimulus funds for favored projects.

Advocacy groups such as the Alexandria, Va.-based National Taxpayers

Union have heard this political song before. Pete Sepp, a spokesperson

for the union, said lettermarking is just a new spin on the earmarking

debate.

Its a more polite form of pork-barreling, said Sepp, who believes the same kinds of publicdisclosures that occurred in recent years with earmarks should be applied to lettermarking.

Lawmakers are entitled to write the letters, but the taxpaying public is entitled to see them much

more widely than they do.

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2 Responses to Fiscal Duplicity

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Trapping politicians with their own words | Florida Center for Investigative Reporting says:

October 20, 2010 at 2:58 am

[...] The story, by Thomas Francis, is featured on our main page. [...]

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La Hipocresa Poltica | Florida Center for Investigative Reporting says:

October 24, 2010 at 3:45 pm

[...] Editors note: You may also read this in English. [...]

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fiscal duplicity | florida center for investigative reporting

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