Congressman Hal Rogers of Kentucky's 5th District wants you to pay $5 Million to help Cheetahs in Namibia. Oh wait, he wants to help his daughter.
The Lexington Herald-Leader broke the news of Congressman Rogers, who represents the second poorest Congressional district in the United States, about his effort to help cheetahs, uhh I mean his daughter:
U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Somerset, is sponsoring a bill to give $5 million a year to conservation groups that work overseas on behalf of endangered "great cats and rare canids," such as cheetahs, lions and Ethiopian wolves.
One group interested in applying, should Rogers' bill become law, is the Namibia-based Cheetah Conservation Fund.
Its grants administrator, Allison Rogers, is the congressman's daughter.
"Obviously, I'm waiting with bated breath," said Allison Rogers, who lives in Versailles. "It would help us a lot because the Cheetah Conservation Fund does not have a very big budget."
She and her father say there is no conflict of interest. The congressman from southeastern Kentucky long has been a champion of wildlife, she said.
If that was not bad enough, read this (also from the Lexington Herald-Leader):
This isn't the first time Rogers has steered money in the direction of his family.
In 2004, Senture, a call-services center in London, hired one of Rogers' sons as a computer systems administrator just after the lawmaker helped it win a $4 million homeland security contract. Father and son said there was no connection between the contract and the job.
"There needs to be much more of a fire wall with things like this," Williams said. "It isn't difficult. You just don't allocate money to projects where your children are employed. The problem with Congressman Rogers is, he thinks there's nothing wrong with it."
"Who's against helping cheetahs? Nobody. But c'mon, this reeks of nepotism," said David Williams, vice president for policy at Citizens Against Government Waste in Washington. "This is the kind of thing that gets taxpayers so frustrated with Congress."
So let's break this down:
- Rogers wants to add $5 Million more to the deficit to help cheetahs in Africa. Don't we already send billions over there in foreign aid?
- Rogers wants this money to go to the Cheetah Conservation Fund, an organization that employs his daughter.
Sounds like Rogers is a real disciplined, fiscal conservative!
We have a great Democrat running against this guy by the name of Jim Holbert. He's running on a Progressive platform of ending the wars immediately, bringing back jobs by ending free trade agreements, and creating an energy policy for America's future.
Jim Holbert served over 20 years as an officer in the Army and Coast Guard, and presently serves the people of Southeast Kentucky as an Emergency Medical Service helicopter pilot based in London, Kentucky.
Do you want to see this out of touch Congressman out of office? Then we need your help. Jim Holbert needs your help to raise a few thousand dollars before Saturday. Please pitch in what you can. We have GOT to get Hal Rogers defeated!
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Thank you!