Since the Supreme Court ignored the Constitution by upholding Obamacare, we have no choice but to use every legislative and executive tool at our disposal to kill this socialist monstrosity. One opportunity we will have to disrupt and impede its implementation will be through the appropriations process. Last December, we incurred the ‘great spending betrayal’ under Republican leadership in the House. Sixty percent of House | Read More »
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 »
Over Friday and Saturday, 61% of House Republicans and 34% of Senate Republicans voted for the omnibus megabus bill. In doing so, not only did they violate their pledge pertaining to bundled (1200-page) bills and the 72-hour layover rule and agree to fund Obamacare, Dodd-Frank, Planned Parenthood, the EPA, the PLO and the UN; they actually agreed to spend almost $9 billion more than last | Read More »
“Conservatives should not let GOP leaders and Harry Reid pocket their good will on the omnibus under false pretenses that Boehner will remain strong on the extenders package.” There is an important rule – one that runs counter to DC conventional wisdom – that conservatives should heed when considering support for a piece of legislation. No legislation is better than bad legislation. To put that in | Read More »
The House is set to pass a trillion dollar spending bill. Sources say we can expect the bill to be posted online sometime close to midnight tonight. I have no doubt that the bill will include all kinds of hidden earmarks and spending gimmicks. But the clever bill writers will make these hard to find. This is why it is so important that the public | Read More »
“Why are we bailing them out from their biggest debt with the voting public? Why are Republicans in a rush to move on from issues that embarrass Democrats?” It is still inexplicable to me why Republicans should violate their pledge against passing an Omnibus, in order to meet an artificial deadline set by those who never passed a budget. Democrats were too incompetent to pass | Read More »
From a New Hampshire Union Leader editorial crediting the Tea Party with ensuring that Senate Minority Leader McConnell would refuse to play ball on the Omnibus: The truth is that without the constant vigilance currently provided by what can loosely be called the Tea Party movement, Republicans would be just as happy as Democrats to squander taxpayer money. They are only acting frugal now because | Read More »
Download Podcast | iTunes | Podcast Feed On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss what the dead $1.1 Trillion Omnibus spending bill means for small businesses, and what really started the financial crisis. We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you | Read More »
As Glenn Reynolds indirectly notes, our elected officials like to know when they’ve done something properly. Without question, making Harry Reid back down on that appalling omnibus bill was a righteous act; so give your Senator a call and say thanks. If both of them are Democrats, then give Senator McConnell a call and say thanks. Note: “give a call and say thanks.” Not “send | Read More »
What do you call the Senate’s Omnibus Spending Bill? An Earmark Bonanza — An Earmark-A-Thon — The Earmark-bus. Clearly, this bill is an outrage to the taxpayer and conservative Senators. The Senate is about to vote on an Omnibus Spending Bill funding the federal government for the year. House and Senate appropriators crafted a bill in secret and, just yesterday, provided text to Senators and the American people. | Read More »
Senate Democrats unveiled earlier this afternoon a 1,924-page omnibus spending bill to fund the government through fiscal year 2011. Aides to GOP legislators on Capitol Hill have already begun poring over the $1.1 trillion package, describing the proposal as “a total mess” to Fox News. Republican lawmakers — including those in the lower chamber, like Speaker-elect John Boehner — are already vowing to help kill | Read More »
It didn’t take long for many in Congress to ignore the will of the American people on earmarking special projects for states and districts. The Tea Party movement has a long way to convince members of both parties that the corrupting and wasteful practice of earmarking has to end. Later this month, Senators Jim DeMint (R-SC), John McCain (R-AZ) and Tom Coburn (R-OK) are expected to | Read More »
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