Jeff Flake: “among the many downsides of earmarking and one that we rarely talk about on the House floor is the practice of circular…”

“among the many downsides of earmarking and one that we rarely talk about on the House floor is the practice of circular fundraising. Campaign donations are given to Members, Members secure earmarks benefiting their contributors, and contributors in turn are able to give Members more donations. This cycle is repeated over and over and over. Unfortunately, this is a bipartisan practice. The media has reported on many such arrangements for Members on both sides of the aisle. Legal issues aside, circular fundraising does not pass the smell test. Whether it is fair or not, the crimes of a few of our former colleagues have cast suspicion over us all. Continued rampant fundraising is simply not worth the trust it costs us with our constituents. I think that most of us had higher aspirations when we came here than groveling for crumbs that fall from the appropriators' table. I hope that we as Members of Congress will finally decide that enough is enough.”