Feb 16, 2018 2 min read

Saccone is no fiscal conservative

After hearing Rick Saccone, the Republican candidate in the 18th Congressional District, tout his record as a “fiscal conservative,” I feel compelled to write that he is not.

According to Lee Fang of the online publication The Intercept, Saccone “has demanded government spending cuts, claiming that since his ‘constituents have had to do a lot of belt tightening the past few years; it’s time for state government to do the same.’ But records show that Saccone has also spent profusely on the taxpayers’ dime, using his legislative expense account for meals, per diem payments and other items at a rate higher than most lawmakers.”

The article also states, “the average Pennsylvania lawmaker spends close to $50,000 per year in legislative expenses including per diems and office rentals. … Saccone, notably, requested the per diem rate more than 700 times during the last seven years, rather than itemizing his expenses. His yearly average, public records show is $62,167, over 20 percent more than the average legislator, including several in neighboring districts in the Pittsburgh suburbs.”

Again, running as a fiscal conservative, The Intercept outlines how Saccone signed off on an ethics reform bill prohibiting lobbyist-funded meals for lawmakers, but that Saccone and his wife nevertheless dined with lobbyists, with lobbyists paying for the meals.

The voters in the 18th Congressional District deserve a congressman who doesn’t speak out of both sides of his mouth, holding his hand out for taxpayer-funded per diems, lobbyists meals, and suites at Harrisburg hotels, just to name a few. We need someone who says and does what he was elected to do – being a good steward of our tax dollars.

At a recent campaign event, he was so proud to announce he was “Trump before Trump was Trump.” I don’t know exactly what that means, but I shudder to think that he would be as freewheeling with our federal tax dollars as he is with our tax dollars in Pennsylvania.

Barry L. Andrews

Washington