BREAKING: O’Donoghue Exposes Grayson Earmark Corruption
More Politics as usual reveals stunning pattern of self-interest

(Winter Park, Fl)– Conservative small businessman Bruce O’Donoghue today exposed U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson’s attempt to steer half a million dollars in taxpayer earmark funds to the A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI), an organization which awarded Grayson with its “Eminence Award” and which is directly tied to the AFL-CIO, a union which has contributed tens of thousands of dollars towards Grayson’s elections. According to publicly available documents supplied by Grayson’s office, Grayson has requested a $500,000 earmark for APRI for “job training and pre-apprentice assistance via a ‘One Stop Work Center.'” On its website, APRI describes itself as “the senior constituency group of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations.”

“It’s disgraceful and unethical that Alan Grayson would attempt to use taxpayer funds to reward unions which contributed to his campaign and worked to get him elected,” said O’Donoghue.  “This is a man who ran on the platform of ending corruption in Washington, and 18 months later, he’s on the forefront of the quid pro quo culture of corruption in our nation’s capitol that is hurting our economic recovery.  This year, Alan Grayson revealed his disgust for the taxpayers by requesting a staggering $106 million in federal earmarks while our country is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.  It’s disturbing how obtuse and destructive this man is to the needs of Central Florida and our nation.   As a Member of Congress, I will work as an aggressive watchdog to uncover every instance of corruption and stop this quid pro quo game that’s too prevalent in our politics,” stated O’Donoghue, who has sworn-off earmarks.

Additionally, this is not the first time that Alan Grayson has proposed an earmark for an organization in which he has a cozy relationship.  Last year, Grayson requested a $350,000 earmark for the “Florida Civil Rights Association (FCRA),” a group which has a controversial history and a leader, J. Willie David, who some described as a “con artist.”  Grayson was a board member of the FCRA and in 2007, received the group’s “Humanitarian of the Year Award.”

“The formula for getting an earmark from Alan Grayson is simple: present him with an award and you get rewarded with an earmark of the taxpayers’ money.  It’s an insult to hard-working Floridians who are living paycheck to paycheck to make ends meet during this recession, and it shows Grayson’s priorities are not them, but himself,” concluded O’Donoghue.