Despite some inner bickering, one thing Kentucky Progressives agree on is that Congressman John Yarmuth of Kentucky's Third Congressional District is Congressman awesome. A co-sponsor of HR 676 and constant friend to the working American Yarmuth has been a leader in the Congress since first elected in 2006. Yarmuth was at it again in a video released today, linking the lack of Universal Healthcare directly to the loss of jobs in his district and calling out Mitch McConnell for delaying the process of fixing a broken healthcare system.
Yarmuth told how Jewish Hospital in Louisville was forced to lay off 250 workers with plans to git rid of 250 more:
Yesterday, Yarmuth commented on his support for ending earmarks to Corporate America in this release:
I strongly support this policy change, which is why I implemented it for my own Congressional Office in 2008. I believe that Members of Congress - not just agency bureaucrats in Washington - should have a say in how federal funding is allocated in their Congressional District. However, assuming this responsibility means we must make sure taxpayer funds are not being used to pad a corporation's bottom line, but are being used to support valuable public services, protect our citizens, improve our schools, and improve our infrastructure."
The House Appropriations Committee estimated that if a similar rule were in effect last year, 1,000 fewer earmarks would have been approved. The Committee also announced it would establish an online website where all House Members' earmark requests would be easily viewable.
One thing is for sure, since his election in 2006 when Working America has needed a friend in Washington D.C. they have always been able to depend on Congressman Yarmuth. Instead of constantly being part of the problem in Washington, he has constantly tried to be part of the solution. If you do not believe me, the record speaks for itself:
We should all go to his re-election site and find out how we can help assure this fighting Democrat who is not afraid to be Progressive wins this fall:
While we are at it, we should all stop by his ActBlue page at sometime this year and donate whatever we can. This will be an investment that has ALREADY paid dividends and will only continue to in the future. Wall St. sure never offered such a sound investment:
