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House Republican leader John Boehner says he hasn't sought earmarks. We find he's right. House Republican leader John Boehner says he hasn't sought earmarks. We find he's right.

House Republican leader John Boehner says he hasn't sought earmarks. We find he's right.

Robert Farley
By Robert Farley March 16, 2009

When House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, urged President Obama to veto the $410 billion omnibus spending bill because of all the earmarks in it, he spoke from particularly high ground on the issue.

"I don't do earmarks," Boehner said in a news conference on March 12, 2009. "I've never done one. I'm not going to do one."

Indeed, he promised that in 1990 when he was first running for Congress. He often says he told voters, "If you are electing me to raid the federal treasury on your behalf, you're electing the wrong guy."

A strict earmark-free record would put him in rare company, so we decided to check it out. We found his statement True .

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Boehner has said no to earmarks