Congressman Bob Inglis has made it a top priority to defend his record this campaign. Unfortunately, while Congressman Inglis has been trying to “set the record straight” on his record, he has been distorting his opponent’s words. In his campaign material, Bob Inglis claims that Senator David Thomas is in favor of a “150 million dollar earmark” for a reservoir in Union County.

David Thomas has never publicly called for an earmark for a water reservoir in Union County. However, Senator David Thomas was the first candidate to recognize Union County’s unique need for water resources. David Thomas says he will work with Senator Jim DeMint on this issue since Senator DeMint started the process when he represented this district in Congress.  (Below is a letter from Senator Jim DeMint’s office.)

At a campaign meet and greet following his announcement for Congress, Senator David Thomas spoke with Union County residents about their water resource problem. After meeting with proponents of a water reservoir, David Thomas expressed his support for a water reservoir in Union. However, David Thomas does not believe that an earmark is the way to go.

“There are grants and funding for these type of projects on the federal level,” said Thomas. “All Union County needs is leadership from its Congressman on this issue. Congressman Inglis has made it clear that he will not work with Union on this issue.”

It seems that Bob Inglis has “gone Washington” because he believes that the Union lake cannot be possible without an earmark. It is this type of Washington thinking, the “we can’t do it unless we use earmarks” mentality, that proves that we need new representation in Congress. We can get it done without earmarks.