Evan Feinberg, a 28-year-old former aide to Sens. Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Rand Paul (R-KY), is challenging Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA) in the April 24 Republican primary. Although Murphy is a fifth-term incumbent, Feinberg has received significant support from Tea Party groups and the far-right wing on the Republican Party.
Yesterday, former Rep. Dick Armey’s (R-TX) FreedomWorks for America Super PAC reported that it has spent $26,500 on a media buy in support of Feinberg. The group has endorsed him, calling him a “strong supporter of a smaller, limited, and more fiscally responsible government,” and labeling the occasionally moderate incumbent as “big government Republican Tim Murphy.”
But an examination of Feinberg’s 23-page fiscal proposal, “Turning the Lights Back On: Restoring the Shining City,” reveals a candidate who not only wants to eliminate the Departments of Energy and Education, but also wants to do away with some of the most important federal programs to our nation’s security.
Some of his controversial policies show how the anti-government Tea Party agenda’s goes:
- Complete elimination of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. As part of his plan to eliminate the entire Department of Energy, he proposes we eliminate the emergency supply of crude oil stocked by the nation to protect our energy supply in a time of crisis. Without this supply, foreign countries could exert unimaginable influence over our by threatening to disrupt the supply of crude oil — or actually doing so.
- Elimination of several key parts of the Department of Homeland Security. Among the things he wants to eliminate: the Emergency Operation Centers, the Office of Bombing Prevention, and the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office.
- Elimination of federal anti-gang efforts from the Department of Justice. He proposes to eliminate National Gang Intelligence Center and the National Gang Targeting, Enforcement, and Coordination Center.
Feinberg’s more than $9 trillion in proposed cuts, over ten years, would not only decimate the federal government as we know it, they would destroy vital programs needed to keep America safe and secure.