Sandy Adams Hits John Mica Over Earmarks

The gloves came off on Wednesday as U.S. Rep. Sandy Adams ripped into fellow Florida Republican U.S. Rep. John Mica. The two square off in a primary contest on Aug. 14 in a rare battle between two congressional incumbents.

Adams took aim at Mica on earmarks on Wednesday, insisting that he was a strong supporter of them.

John Mica and other big-spending career politicians are part of the problem in Washington, D.C.," said Adams. After requesting $4 billion in earmarks and increasing our nations debt by more than $10 trillion over the past 20 years, Central Floridians cannot afford John Mica any longer. My freshmen colleagues and I came to Washington to be part of the solution. However, there are still members of Congress on both sides of the aisle that continue to be part of the problem. With a nearly $16 trillion debt, it is clear the old way of doing things in Congress just doesn't work for the American people. I will continue to fight for an earmark ban in the 113th Congress, but the question begs to be asked: Would John Mica?

Alan Byrd, a spokesman for Mica, fired back by pointing to Adams' record in Tallahassee."Congressman Mica is not going to participate in a campaign stunt, especially from someone who personally received $129 million in earmarks while a state legislator," Byrd told Sunshine State News.