Every Republican swears up and down that he/she supports limited government, a balanced budget, and free markets. Yet, once again, only a fraction of Republicans in Washington were able to stand for those ideals. The House and Senate passed the Obama highway bill/student loan stimulus on Friday with overwhelming majorities in both houses of Congress. [Read more about the bill here and here.] Among other things, | Read More »
While everyone is focused on how to deal with the impending government takeover of healthcare, we must continue to battle the forces of big-government in Congress. Yesterday, in another display of venerable bipartisanship, leaders from both parties agreed to roll the $120 billion Democrat highway bill, subsidies to fuel the Big Education bubble, and a 5-year extension of government-run flood insurance into one omnibus bill, | Read More »
While everyone is waiting breathlessly to see whether the Supreme Court will strike down Obama’s egregious power grab in the healthcare sector, a bipartisan group of congressmen and senators are working to grow government in several other sectors of the economy. We must not be complacent. In our battle to shrink the size of the federal government, there have been a number of issues on | Read More »
Among the many Republican capitulations we have witnessed over the past year, one of the most egregious is their willingness to support the Senate highway bill. We’ve chronicled the problems with the highway bill extensively in these pages over the past few months. Aside for the policy issues, the cost of the bill is most problematic because it will engender future bailouts. The $109 billion | Read More »
Well, that didn’t take long. Just one week into the conference committee on the highway bill, Republicans are showing signs of caving on their insistence that the Keystone pipeline be approved as part of the deal. Throughout the past few months, we have been chronicling how Republicans have been apathetic to the underlying vices of the highway bill (S. 1813). They basically told the Democrats | Read More »
It’s becoming clear that many rank-and-file members of the House Republican Conference are chomping at the bit to resurrect earmarks after a two-year moratorium. Some are complaining that earmarks cede authority to the executive branch; others are lamenting the lack of “grease” to facilitate passage of statist legislation; still others are trying to push miscellaneous tariff bills, which violate the rules of the earmark ban. | Read More »
As we’ve noted throughout the past year’s imbroglio over transportation spending, it is clear that complete federal control over transportation spending in a post-interstate highway era (post 1992) is inefficient, costly, anti-federalist, and precludes state and private innovations. Yet, Congress continues to buckle down on a policy that has failed in recent years, exposing taxpayers to future bailouts and tax increases. Worst of all, it | Read More »
As we approach the March 31 expiration date for surface transportation projects, we can take solace in the fact that the House will not vote on two bad bills; Boehner’s original 5-year $260 billion reauthorization and the Senate’s 2-year $109 billion bill. While we push for a more prudent long-term solution, the House will pass a 90-day stopgap bill to continue spending at current levels | Read More »
Update: All 4 amendments were defeated, meaning we won 2 and lost 2. DeMint’s devolution amendment failed 30-67 with 14 Republicans (including McConnell) voting no; Stabenow’s green energy pork amendment failed 49-49; DeMint’s repeal of all energy subsidies failed 26-72; the Menendez-Burr handouts for natural gas cars failed 51-47. 6 Republicans supported the subsidies, including Tom Coburn! This might seem like a stalemate, but the | Read More »
Earlier today, the Senate began voting on a series of 30 amendments to the highway bill (S.1813). The three important amendments regarding energy subsidies that we referenced earlier (2 bad, 1 good) were postponed until next week. However, here is a list of other commonsense amendments that were voted down by Democrats. It is truly sad that at a time when gas prices are at | Read More »
Who needs Democrats when so many Republicans are willing to orchestrate their agenda for them? The Senate is on the precipice of passing Barbara Boxer’s highway bill with overwhelming support. Mitch McConnell is negotiating a deal with Harry Reid in which Republicans would be granted a vote on some of their choice non-germane amendments. After Democrats summarily defeat those amendments, Republicans will return the favor | Read More »
Folks, it’s not the amendments we should be focused on; it’s the underlying bill that we must block. Yes, it’s another week in D.C., and that means it’s another week of work on the highway bill. Throughout the past two weeks, there have been copious pages of ink spilled pontificating about the ramifications of the Blunt amendment and religious conscious issues. Moreover, the Capitol Hill | Read More »
If I were pressed to offer one anecdote exemplifying our failure to elect consistent conservatives to Congress last November, the story of Senator Jerry Moran and Big Wind would be at the top of the list. In 2010, then-Congressman Jerry Moran beat former Congressman Todd Tiahrt for the Republican nomination for Senate in Kansas running as a red meat conservative. He easily won the seat | Read More »
Republicans who seek our support during an election cycle declare emphatically that they will deal with the deficit upon being elected. Once elected, however, they far too often evince nothing but apathy towards efforts to solve our budget crisis. Worse yet, they even work assiduously to create new deficits. Ever since Republicans won control of the House in 2010, instead of looking for spending cuts | Read More »
Well, it appears that our efforts are paying off. Responding to our charge that the GOP was violating the pledge against bundled megabills, Boehner announced that he will split the proposal into three separate bills; the highway bill (HR 7), pension reform (HR 3813), and expanded oil and gas drilling (HR 3408). This from Roll Call: In a joint statement with Rules Chairman David Dreier | Read More »
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