Omnibus - 9,000 earmarks - spending bill vulnerable.

You have probably heard some of the rumors that a bill festooned with thousands of earmarks passed the house recently and making it's way through the Senate. This is the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009 a bill responsible for much of the federal program funding that our bloated government requires for daily operation.

Courtesy of PatriotRoom.com an article on Politico suggests this bill may be in danger of being struck down not just by every single Republican, but some Democrats as well, including Bob Nelson. Bob Nelson is a surprising opposition member considering he lead the liberal Republicans Snow, Collins and Specter on the unfortunate passing of the stimulus bill.

The Omnibus package passed the house largely along party lines with 16 Republicans supporting and some 20 Blue dog Democrats opposing for a total of: 245-178

Critics of the GOP opposition point out that 40% of the earmarks belong to the Republicans and frankly I find this extremely appalling. How can the party claiming fiscal responsibility and criticizing extensive spending shove so many earmarks into this bill? Imagine what kind of public support the GOP could obtain if it not only opposed all the excessive spending, but vowed to oppose all earmarks? I don't claim to understand the intricate details of how the Senate works...but...COME ON! Cantor where are you? Boehner where are you? This is dispicable and erodes support among true fiscal responsiblity. This act alone poses a very difficult challenge for people like myself who are finding it extremely difficult to support the GOP when they pull stunts like this. At the same time, the GOP appears to be the only salvation from big government. Please pick a side, because what you are doing is hypocritical.

Stay tuned as I explore the earmarks in this bill.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The 2009 credit boom is coming to an end.

Image
The credit expansion boom of 2009 will eventually go down as yet another period of credit expansion promoted by the Fed that will have lead to another predictable bust.   Today, it will be interesting to examine how the various levels of production are behaving under years and years of artificial interest rate suppression.  It will also be helpful to look at charts and graphs examining the business cycle theory and the impact of time preference as taught by Mises. For starters, those new to the concept - a very brief paraphrasing of the general idea. Under a healthy functioning market people's consumer patterns impact their savings.  More consumption equals less saving and less consumption more saving.  In order to progress the society must save such that it can make investments in machinery, equipment, technology, etc if it hopes to increase the capacity of production.   Sure ,you can harvest 10 coconuts a day, consume them by night and repeat the process.  You can also defe
Read more

What is wrong with this country?

I was browsing the latest IBD poll and it finally struck me. I had this idea brewing for the past few weeks now and this particular poll hit a nerve. What jumped out was the age group and who they are likely voting for. Obama / McCain 18-24: 74% 21% The rest of the age groups are more or less even with ages 65+ leaning more for McCain. Those folks should probably avoid leaning - hazardous to their health. Now, if you are a member of this group and are part of the 74% you are probably feeling good about yourself. If you are in the 21% then you are probably used to feeling desperate and angry that your peers ostracize you as if you were the next coming of the bubonic plague. But this number is very telling. Showing to us that a large group of freshly minted liberals, on average still in college, is in a very good position to influence these elections. Enthralled by the concept of "what they want the world to be" and their utopian ideals they hammer their message to anyone willi
Read more

401k Takeover Proposal. IRAs in danger?

Just read a piece that made my blood boil. The story is from Carolina Journal, but I will paste the first paragraph below. Even if you currently do not have a 401k, this is the most dangerous proposal I have ever heard. The only similar example I can think of, would be the gold seizure under FDR. If this proposal becomes legitimate, you MUST write to your local representative, congressman, senator, etc. This will be absolutely crippling to our economy as investors will stage a mass exodus out of the market. If you want a demonstration of this in action, look at Argentina. They just did something very similar. I will keep my eyes on the story and will add further information to demonstrate just how dangerous this is. November 04, 2008 RALEIGH — Democrats in the U.S. House have been conducting hearings on proposals to confiscate workers’ personal retirement accounts — including 401(k)s and IRAs — and convert them to accounts managed by the Social Security Administration. Triggered by the
Read more