The following is a statement by Taxpayers for Common Sense President Ryan Alexander on the 58-40 Senate vote to eliminate additional funding for F-22 Raptor from the National Defense Authorization Act of 2010:

“Today, the Senate heard President Obama and Defense Secretary Gates’ call for reform and resoundingly voted on the side of taxpayers, cutting $1.75 billion that had been added to defense authorization legislation to buy more F-22 jet fighters. This critical vote demonstrated that fiscal sanity can win out over parochial pork-barrel spending, even on gold-plated weapons systems. The justification for the F-22 was never about improving national security but about padding the bottom line of defense contractors and wasting tax dollars in the home states of powerful lawmakers. Defense spending cannot become just another jobs program: Our men and women in harm’s way deserve better. Congratulations and thanks to Sens. Levin (D-MI) and McCain (R-AZ) for their leadership on this issue.”