Mitt Romney Calls for Ban of Congressional Earmarks

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and is widely expected to do so again in 2012, joined the call to ban congressional earmarks on Monday, praising U.S. Jim DeMint of South Carolina for standing against them. Romney announced on Monday that he was going to set up a petition through the website of his Free and Strong America PAC.

"Senator DeMint is courageously standing on conviction with his much-needed proposal to ban earmarks, which will curb wasteful spending and restore accountability to the way Congress spends taxpayer dollars, said Romney. We all need to recognize that Washington cant responsibly begin to address out-of-control debt and deficits until the practice of cramming earmarks into spending bills is stopped. While earmarks are not the only cause of our budget problems, they have come to symbolize whats wrong with Washington. What was once accepted as the normal way of doing business has to be re-examined in light of our $13 trillion national debt. I encourage all Republicans to embrace Senator DeMints earmark ban and send a powerful message that we will no longer tolerate business-as-usual on Capitol Hill."