Cole Criticizes Government Funding of Political Conventions

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Tom Cole (OK-04) today released the following statement after the Federal Election Commission (FEC) announced payments of $17.7 million in taxpayer money to each political party to fund their respective 2012 presidential nominating conventions:

"It's outrageous for the government to write $17 million checks to political parties when we're facing trillion-dollar deficits. The Presidential Election Campaign fund is an outdated, wasteful program that only 7 percent of Americans support. It should be an easy target for the Deficit Reduction Committee.

"My bill to end the program passed with bipartisan support in the House and has been introduced by Leader McConnell in the Senate. The Senate should pass this bill to save $617 million and end this welfare program for politicians."

In January, the House passed HR 359, Cole's bill to eliminate taxpayer funding of presidential candidates and political conventions. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the bill would save $617 million over 10 years.