Today in Washington D. C. - March Feb 4, 2009 - Brown, Polar Bears, Future Debt being discussed
At 11 AM, the Senate joins the House for an address a Joint Session of Congress by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown where he will promote not only good relations between Britian and the U.S., and he will also promote his global socialist cooperative agenda. It is announced, he will speak about Sen Edward Kennedy (D-MA) being granted an honorary "knighthood." Excuse me but Kennedy is no Knight in shining armor; remember Mary Jo Kopechne.
The Senate resumed consideration of a series of amendments to H.R. 1105, the fiscal year 2009 omnibus appropriations bill. The $410 billion bill combines the 9 unpassed appropriations bills from last year and funds the federal government through September. Included are several from Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) to eliminate various earmarks. Also expected to be considered is an amendment by Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Mark Begich (D-AK) to allow the Secretary of the Interior to change a rule listing the polar bear as threatened. The former continuing resolution passed last fall expires Friday.
Yesterday, the Senate rejected a substitute amendment from Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) which would have frozen funding for most agencies at 2008 levels through October. Also voted down were motions to send the bill back to committee by Sens. John Ensign (R-NV) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX). Sen. Ensign’s motion would have instructed the committee to cut $22 billion from the bill and Sen. Hutchison’s would have instructed the committee to increase non-security spending by just the rate of inflation.
After voting for nearly $1 trillion in spending over the last month, it appears a few Democrats are beginning to show some unease with their leaders funneling more billions of dollars of taxpayer money into bloated spending bills.
In an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal today, Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) criticizes the $410 billion omnibus appropriations bill, saying it “lacks the slightest hint of austerity from the federal government or the recipients of its largess.” Bayh urges the Senate to reject the bill and President Obama to veto it if it is passed: “[T]he bloated omnibus requires sacrifice from no one, least of all the government. It only exacerbates the [debt] problem and hastens the day of reckoning. Voters rightly demanded change in November's election, but this approach to spending represents business as usual in Washington, not the voters' mandate. . . . [W]hat ultimately matters are not meetings or words, but actions. Those who vote for the omnibus this week -- after standing with the president and pledging to slice our deficit in half last week -- jeopardize their credibility.”
Roll Call reports this morning that liberal Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) “said Wednesday that he would vote against the $410 billion omnibus spending bill which he charged was rife with wasteful spending and 8,500 earmarks.” It’s not just the omnibus bill that is giving certain Democrats heartburn. Politico reports, “Moderate and conservative Democrats in the Senate are starting to choke over the massive spending and tax increases in President Barack Obama’s budget plans and have begun plotting to increase their influence over the agenda of a president who is turning out to be much more liberal than they are.” Following a meeting of 14 Democrats and one independent senator yesterday, “some in attendance made plain that they are getting jitters over the cost and expansive reach of Obama’s $3.6 trillion budget proposal.”
Democrats troubled by the Obama budget plan certainly have good reason to be. The Las Vegas Review Journal, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s hometown paper, criticized “the president’s gargantuan budget” in an editorial today: “The global warming tax the administration proposes for U.S. companies will result in higher energy costs for all consumers and businesses, not just the rich. And even if we are to believe the administration's rosy economic projections, is it wise to raise taxes on well-off individuals who invest and create jobs at a time when the economy finally shows signs of life?”
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) laid out the big picture: “All of this spending is reason to carefully consider and pare back this massive spending bill – particularly in these areas which contain funding for 122 programs which were already funded in the stimulus bill. . . . This current spending bill is only one step in the spending process. It doesn’t include the President’s budget, the housing proposal, or untold trillions to stabilize financial markets and other programs Our children and grandchildren can’t afford this level of spending. And they will be the ones left to pay off the federal government credit card that Democrats in Congress are busy maxing out.”
Tags: Gordon Brown, omnibus bill, US Congress, US House, US Senate, Washington D.C. To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
The Senate resumed consideration of a series of amendments to H.R. 1105, the fiscal year 2009 omnibus appropriations bill. The $410 billion bill combines the 9 unpassed appropriations bills from last year and funds the federal government through September. Included are several from Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) to eliminate various earmarks. Also expected to be considered is an amendment by Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Mark Begich (D-AK) to allow the Secretary of the Interior to change a rule listing the polar bear as threatened. The former continuing resolution passed last fall expires Friday.
Yesterday, the Senate rejected a substitute amendment from Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) which would have frozen funding for most agencies at 2008 levels through October. Also voted down were motions to send the bill back to committee by Sens. John Ensign (R-NV) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX). Sen. Ensign’s motion would have instructed the committee to cut $22 billion from the bill and Sen. Hutchison’s would have instructed the committee to increase non-security spending by just the rate of inflation.
After voting for nearly $1 trillion in spending over the last month, it appears a few Democrats are beginning to show some unease with their leaders funneling more billions of dollars of taxpayer money into bloated spending bills.
In an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal today, Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) criticizes the $410 billion omnibus appropriations bill, saying it “lacks the slightest hint of austerity from the federal government or the recipients of its largess.” Bayh urges the Senate to reject the bill and President Obama to veto it if it is passed: “[T]he bloated omnibus requires sacrifice from no one, least of all the government. It only exacerbates the [debt] problem and hastens the day of reckoning. Voters rightly demanded change in November's election, but this approach to spending represents business as usual in Washington, not the voters' mandate. . . . [W]hat ultimately matters are not meetings or words, but actions. Those who vote for the omnibus this week -- after standing with the president and pledging to slice our deficit in half last week -- jeopardize their credibility.”
Roll Call reports this morning that liberal Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) “said Wednesday that he would vote against the $410 billion omnibus spending bill which he charged was rife with wasteful spending and 8,500 earmarks.” It’s not just the omnibus bill that is giving certain Democrats heartburn. Politico reports, “Moderate and conservative Democrats in the Senate are starting to choke over the massive spending and tax increases in President Barack Obama’s budget plans and have begun plotting to increase their influence over the agenda of a president who is turning out to be much more liberal than they are.” Following a meeting of 14 Democrats and one independent senator yesterday, “some in attendance made plain that they are getting jitters over the cost and expansive reach of Obama’s $3.6 trillion budget proposal.”
Democrats troubled by the Obama budget plan certainly have good reason to be. The Las Vegas Review Journal, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s hometown paper, criticized “the president’s gargantuan budget” in an editorial today: “The global warming tax the administration proposes for U.S. companies will result in higher energy costs for all consumers and businesses, not just the rich. And even if we are to believe the administration's rosy economic projections, is it wise to raise taxes on well-off individuals who invest and create jobs at a time when the economy finally shows signs of life?”
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) laid out the big picture: “All of this spending is reason to carefully consider and pare back this massive spending bill – particularly in these areas which contain funding for 122 programs which were already funded in the stimulus bill. . . . This current spending bill is only one step in the spending process. It doesn’t include the President’s budget, the housing proposal, or untold trillions to stabilize financial markets and other programs Our children and grandchildren can’t afford this level of spending. And they will be the ones left to pay off the federal government credit card that Democrats in Congress are busy maxing out.”
Tags: Gordon Brown, omnibus bill, US Congress, US House, US Senate, Washington D.C. To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
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