Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer - Missouri's 9th District Rep

[Eupher]

He's my rep, and he's one of the good guys. Check this out (received via email and on his web site):

WASHINGTON, D.C. - As part of his ongoing efforts to save taxpayer dollars by reducing government waste, U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-9) successfully led the effort to pass an amendment that would prohibit funding for the redundant $25 million Missouri River Authorized Purposes Study (MRAPS), which has already cost Americans $7.6 million. The amendment was attached to a continuing resolution that passed the House this morning.

            The Luetkemeyer amendment halts the study through the end of Fiscal Year 2011 because it repeats work completed seven years ago by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on a comprehensive, 17-year, $35 million study. Earlier this year, Luetkemeyer and 14 of his congressional colleagues sent a letter to House and Senate appropriators seeking to halt the new round of funding for MRAPS.

            For river communities, few issues are as important as water supply, power and navigation. MRAPS puts in jeopardy the flow of the lower Missouri and the Mississippi Rivers, which could mean devastating consequences for navigation and transportation along both rivers, resulting in barriers for agriculture, waterways operators and every product that depends on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers to get to market.  The current authorized uses of the Missouri River provide necessary resources and translate to continued economic stability not only for Missourians, but also for many Americans living throughout the Missouri and Lower Mississippi River Basins.

            “We have a duty to Americas to spend their money wisely, which is why we should not be funding a redundant $25 million river study. I am extremely pleased that my colleagues in the House agreed with me to halt funding for this wasteful study,” Luetkemeyer said. “As we move forward, I will urge further support for this amendment and other measures that reduce wasteful government spending at a time when our deficit and debt continue to balloon out-of-control.”

Note that one of MRAPS' "stakeholders" is MO's 9th District. Luetkemeyer is a guy that isn't afraid to yell "Bullshit!" on a federal program in his own back yard that isn't cutting it.

Luetkemeyer

MRAPS

[Eupher]

Here's another example of the kind of good stuff that Luetkemeyer has done:

House Passes Luetkemeyer Amendment to Halt Taxpayer Financing of UN Climate Panel
02/19/11
 
            WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a major victory for American taxpayers, the House of Representatives today passed a budget amendment offered by U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-9) that would prohibit $13 million in taxpayer dollars from going to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an organization fraught with waste and engaged in dubious science.  

            The amendment, which is identical to a separate bill sponsored by Luetkemeyer, was passed in a direct challenge to the president’s request to fund the IPCC, which has provided information that purports to support the administration’s call for job-killing cap-and-tax legislation.  Luetkemeyer’s amendment was one of 19 amendments highlighted this week by the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.

            â€œThe United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is an entity that is fraught with waste and fraud, and engaged in dubious science, which is the last thing hard-working American taxpayers should be paying for at a time of out-of-control spending and historic debt, which is why I am extremely pleased that my amendment passed,” Luetkemeyer said. “It is time for Washington to combat this year’s record budget deficit and fast-growing national debt. This amendment is part of that effort.”

            The IPCC advises governments around the world on climate change, and supporters of cap-and-tax legislation have used questionable findings by the IPCC as reason to support onerous legislation.  Criticism of this science intensified over the last two years when emails publicly released from a university in England showed that leading global scientists intentionally manipulated climate data and suppressed legitimate arguments in peer-reviewed journals.  Researchers were asked to delete and destroy emails so that a small number of climate alarmists could continue to advance their environmental agenda.

            More than 700 acclaimed international scientists have challenged the claims made by the IPCC.  These 700-plus dissenting scientists are affiliated with institutions like the U.S. Departments of Energy and Defense, the U.S. Air Force and Navy, NASA, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Luetkemeyer