Press Releases
With American Families Tired of Massive Spending, Luetkemeyer Backs YouCut Proposal
Washington, DC,
May 20, 2010
As a direct result of people's concerns about out-of-control government spending that are reflected through the new website YouCut, U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-9) today voted to eliminate the $2.5 billion Non-Reformed Welfare Program. YouCut is a website designed to give American families a say in what spending cuts they would like to see enacted through electronic voting and emails.
– As a direct result of people’s concerns about out-of-control government spending that are reflected through the new website YouCut, U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-9) today voted to eliminate the $2.5 billion Non-Reformed Welfare Program. YouCut is a website designed to give American families a say in what spending cuts they would like to see enacted through electronic voting and emails. “As the voice of the hard-working people who hired me, it is my responsibility to listen to them and act accordingly, which is exactly why I voted against this kind of wasteful government spending that so many people across the country are tired of,” Luetkemeyer said. “Last week, 280,000 Americans voted for their favored spending cut through the YouCut website and another 15,000 emails were received, and that’s something that cannot be ignored by the people’s representatives in Washington, D.C.” Luetkemeyer voted to eliminate the $2.5 billion proposal understanding that since the nation’s welfare system was reformed in 1996, welfare caseloads have dropped by 60 percent, as work and earnings by low-income parents rose. Welfare reform opponents secured in the 2009 stimulus package a fund of up to $5 billion to promote welfare dependence. So far, $2.4 billion of the $5 billion has been spent including $1 billion for welfare checks, $1 billion for “non-recurrent short-term assistance” and nearly $400 million for “subsidized employment.” Each week, Americans will have the opportunity to vote on a spending cut and shortly after all the ideas are processed, Luetkemeyer and his colleagues will seek a vote on the most popular spending cut. Luetkemeyer is encouraging folks to visit http://republicanwhip.house.gov/YouCut/ and help Washington get government spending under control. Following are the final vote tallies among the five cutting options from week one of YouCut: 29.07 percent – New Non-Reformed Welfare Program 27.06 percent – Taxpayer Subsidized Union Activities 17.45 percent – Presidential Election Fund 16.53 percent – Eliminate Wealthier Communities from Community Development Block Grants 11.89 percent – HUD Program for Doctoral Dissertations ###
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