Joe Lieberman: Porker of the Month

A taxpayer watchdog group has named U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut its “porker of the month” for his suggestion that automatic government spending cuts threaten national security and hamper the nation’s ability to respond to natural disasters.

Automatic budget cuts poised to kick in at the start of the year would be “devastating,” Lieberman told Politico earlier this month. 

“It’d really compromise our domestic security and our capacity to respond to emergencies and disasters like the hurricane we just had,” said Lieberman, who chairs the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Those words earned him the “porker of the month” title from Citizens Against Government Waste. The non-partisan group accused Lieberman of ignoring the facts and “fear-mongering.”

“Like many elected officials in Washington, Sen. Lieberman suffers from the delusion that all government spending is essential, and that less spending will lead to fewer truly essential services,” said CAGW President Tom Schatz.  “Unfortunately, every new disaster becomes an excuse to spend even more money, and the waste is never eliminated.  But there are better ways to make sure that real needs are met, since no one would argue that victims of Hurricane Sandy or future disasters should be left out in the cold.  Priorities must be set ahead of any emergency; Congress should establish a ‘reserve fund’ from which money can quickly be spent following a hurricane, flood, tornado or other disaster.”