BOGOTA, NJ – President Obama’s requested $60.4 billion federal relief aid package purported to assist the rebuilding effort post-Hurricane Sandy is now being opposed by Americans for Prosperity’s national organization. The pro-taxpayer group confirmed today that it will be key voting the proposal which it considers a wasteful and fiscally irresponsible expenditure of taxpayer dollars. 

In a letter to members of the U.S. Senate, James Valvo, AFP’s director of policy, urged senators to oppose the “Superstorm Sandy Unemployment Relief Act of 2012” stating that “lawmakers need to stop the practice of borrowing money to spend in the present.”

Steve Lonegan, state director of the AFP’s New Jersey chapter, has led the charge against the plan. Lonegan has called the $60.4 billion aid request “ridiculous” while pointing out that the price tag “amounted to nearly $4,200 for every man, woman and child in the state.” Americans for Prosperity-New Jersey is also on the air with a Taxpayer Minute radio spot across the tri-state area exposing the spendthrift nature of the bill.

“Members of Congress, especially those who profess fiscal responsibility, need to be held to account for their votes,” said Lonegan. “The ‘fiscal cliff’ is a bump in the road compared to the calamity that will ensue if we do not begin to address the trillions of dollars of debt looming over our heads.”

“Constituents should be on the phones with their representatives in Congress urging them to oppose this bill,” added Lonegan. “They should be demanding answers why such a massive, wasteful expenditure is needed when the nation can ill afford it.”

The so-called relief package has quickly become a slush fund for the Inside the Beltway crowd not willing to let a good crisis go to waste. Numerous reports have indicated that the package is being saddled with pork-laden expenditures. Last week, an ABC News report exposed that $23 million was being earmarked for forests, $2 million for damage to Smithsonian buildings not caused by the storm, $4 million for the Kennedy Space Center, and $41 million for “clean-up and repairs” at Guantanamo Bay and other military bases “along the storm’s path.”

“Politicians are salivating over the concept of having $60.4 billion to fund everything in sight,” said Lonegan, during a television interview yesterday with NJTV’s Mike Schneider.

“They need to drill down to every single line item and explain what it’s for before adding another $60 billion to the national debt, running up a massive budget deficit, pouring countless amounts of money into the pockets of politicians to create patronage jobs and spending programs.”

Mayor Lonegan is available for further comment. He can be reached at Americans for Prosperity’s New Jersey office at 201-487-8844.

Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is a nationwide organization of citizen-leaders committed to advancing every individual’s right to economic freedom and opportunity. AFP believes reducing the size and intrusiveness of government is the best way to promote individual productivity and prosperity for all Americans. AFP educates and engages citizens to support restraining state and federal government growth and returning government to its constitutional limits. AFP is more than 2 million activists strong, with activists in all 50 states.  AFP has 34 state chapters and affiliates. More than 85,000 Americans in all 50 states have made a financial contribution to AFP or AFP Foundation. For more information, visit www.americansforprosperity.org

Americans for Prosperity does not support or oppose candidates for public office.

###