Congressman Rod Blum tells Decorah Rotary Club "The mismanagement of the federal government is beyond belief"

Eastern Iowa Congressman Rod Blum has been in Washington, D.C. for just under one year now.

Back home in his district on Tuesday, he told members of the Decorah Rotary Club that 30 percent of the federal budget is being wasted.

Blum introduced legislation to require a balanced federal budget, to set term limits for Congressmen and to impose lifetime lobbying bans on retired Congressmen--but the bills went nowhere.  Blum says the public is tired of the political ruling class, but Congress protects its privileges.

Blum was a critic of former Republican Party House Speaker John Boehner.  "I'm glad he's gone," Blum told Rotary Club members.  He says new Speaker Paul Ryan "is the right guy for the job."

The Dubuque Republican says federal employees out to be given incentives to come up with ideas to save taxpayer money--but that hasn't happened.  "The mismanagement of the federal government is beyond belief," says Blum, who is a Dubuque businessman.