SPENDING PRIORITIES

"Americans...are getting increasingly angry with out-of-control government spending, waste, fraud, and abuse... It is the sense of increasing disgust about blatant overspending and our ability to make the tough choices people on budgets have to make each and every day... In the State of Washington alone there are 17,590 homeless people, and we are going to take money from Housing and Urban Development and we are going to build a sculpture park. I think that is not the right priority. It may be a good idea, but the priority is certainly out of line with what the fiscal needs are, and certainly out of line with the expectations of the American people on how we are spending their money... I also remind our fellow Members [of Congress] that if you read the Constitution, there are great difficulties—regardless of what our history has been—justifying, looking at the Constitution and saying this is a role for the Federal Government... It is probably a great project, but not now, not at this time, and not with Federal money."

--- Sen. Tom Coburn