[Dirty Spending Secrets Washington liberals don't want you to know.].

It's the seedy underbelly of Washington, D.C. The hallways of Congress are often dark alleys of wasteful spending and pork-laden deal-making. Down these lanes, shadowy special interests and empire-building bureaucracies lie in wait to relieve innocent taxpayers of their hard-earned money. They spend billions on wasteful programs, pet projects, and the accumulation of personal power. They threaten to bankrupt our country as our national debt soars out of control.

The victims often don't even know it's happening. Many don't realize how bad it is. Do you?

Let's see:

How much money did Washington recently spend to train Chinese prostitutes to drink more responsibly on the job?

$100,000
$327,000
$2.6 Million

Incredibly, Washington is spending $2.6 million training Chinese prostitutes to drink more responsibly on the job. This is the kind of wasteful spending that President Obama and Congress have stubbornly refused to cut. Instead, they planned to raise taxes on families and entrepreneurs by trillions of dollars! Only action by citizens will break the Washington liberals of this kind of frivolous splurging.

There's another:

Congress recently gave Alaska Airlines half a million dollars to paint a picture of which of the following on a Boeing 737?

A caribou
Sarah Palin
A Chinook salmon

Does this seem fishy to you? The answer is the Chinook salmon-and we sure hope the paint job was good!

Congress must start cutting this kind of wasteful spending. Our nation is on the brink of a financial disaster, and we cannot afford pet projects that spend taxpayer money this way.

The list of wasteful expenditure is unending:

How much money do federal employees cost taxpayers each year upgrading their flights to business class?

$146 million
$14 million
$1.7 million

Evidently the foot room is better! Federal employees cost taxpayers $146 million each year when they upgrade to business class flights. The Government Accountability Office found that more than half of these upgrades were not properly authorized. The rest of us have to fly coach and live on a budget-it's time our government does the same.

See yet another instance of insanity:

The United States government has spent $3 billion doing what to America's beaches?

Adding sand
Picking up litter
Providing sunscreen to tourists

The government has spent $3 billion to re-sand our nation's beaches. Advocates claim this prevents erosion and keeps the beaches attractive to tourists. But the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the sand does nothing to prevent erosion-and this sand gets swept out to sea just as easily as existing sand! Regardless . . . taxpayers have shoveled out $3 billion for these projects.

More of these:

Which of the following have members of Congress expensed to the American people?

Personalized calendars (for the constituents, of course)
A Liz Claiborne cell phone pouch (super cute!)
2008 luxury Lexus hybrid sedan

Trick question: it is all of the above. Members of Congress have spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars supplying their offices and staff with these items-not to mention the popcorn machines, plasma televisions, DVD equipment, ionic air fresheners, camcorders, and signature machines. Do you find it interesting that they can't find items to cut?

Taxpayers must speak out.

The Bad News: The next dirty spending secret is that many Washington liberals are determined to keep spending more, raising the federal debt (already more than $14 trillion and nearly 100% of our Gross Domestic Product), and increasing taxes.

The Good News: They can be stopped. The 2010 election showed that Americans are aware of the challenges we face. Polls show that voters are disgusted by all the spending. We have a real opportunity to make dramatic cuts in spending over the next few years and save the American Dream from national bankruptcy. Outrages like the ones you've just read can become a thing of the past.

The Heritage Foundation has launched a campaign to become a part of the solution and sign the Citizens' Open Letter to Congress on Spending and Debt. The Heritage Foundation is the most influential policy think tank in America.

Citizens' Open Letter to Congress on Spending and Debt will be
made available to all 535 members of Congress (435 Representatives and 100 Senators).

The letter runs like this:

Dear Member of Congress,

You are serving at a historic time, when out-of-control federal spending and soaring national debt threaten to destroy the American Dream for future generations. On your watch, we can either continue on this path, or change course and save our country's future.

Therefore, I stand with The Heritage Foundation and countless fellow Americans to insist that you take dramatic and immediate action to:
Stop wasteful spending. This waste is not hard to find. Indeed, federal auditors have found that 22 percent of federal spending does no good.

Reform federal entitlement programs. Without such reform, the size and cost of government will sink the prosperity of future generations and threaten the welfare of Americans now living. Workable plans have been presented for such reforms, including Saving the American Dream-the Heritage plan to fix the debt, cut spending, and restore prosperity. I urge you to reform entitlements promptly.

Reform taxes. History shows that trying to balance budgets by raising taxes depresses economic growth and does nothing to address the real cause of debt: runaway spending. Today's tax code actually penalizes savings and investment and slows growth. On the other hand, fixing our current tax code will stimulate economic growth. To solve our debt crisis, we need to reform both taxes and spending.

In the midst of another nation-threatening emergency, President Abraham Lincoln wrote, "We cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves . . . We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth."

Although today's crisis is different, the stakes are still high. The economic future upon which our system of free government rests is in serious jeopardy. Will free government and economic opportunity for all Americans continue for future generations?

The answer will largely rest with this Congress. Please take the courageous, principled steps that The Heritage Foundation and others have outlined for you. The citizens of this nation will be watching as you make your decisions.