Pelosi’s Do Nothing Congress Is Getting Attention
Oh that pesky budget. Democrats lambasted Republicans last year for not getting the budget work done. Now, the tables have turned. The Democrats have been adding pork like there is no tomorrow, and Bush is planning to veto it. Congress has done such a poor job completing its budget work that the showdown could be weeks away.
David Freddosso asked if they Want Some Water with that Pork?
That’s what has happened to Congress’s Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2007. The Senate passed a $14 billion version of this spending bill in May, which funds federal water projects, and sent it to conference with the House. The same bill emerged from conference last week, and passed the Senate overwhelmingly yesterday, as a $23 billion spending bill. That’s a 64-percent increase in just four months ” sounds like a wildly successful hedge fund’s return, not the growth of a bill that authorizes spending for the federal government.
Where did all the extra money come from? Much of it is earmarks. But some of it ” between $1 billion and $2 billion ” comes from new “earmarks” that were not voted on in the original House or Senate versions of the bill. These were added quietly in conference committee, when the two houses negotiated the final bill they would both pass. There were at least 20 such earmarks added in conference to WRDA, which authorizes spending on projects for the Army Corps of Engineers. Because they were added in conference, neither the House nor the Senate has any chance to debate or amend them.
The practice of adding extraneous earmarks in conference was supposedly curtailed by the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 ” the Democrats’ ethics bill that was signed into law two weeks ago by President Bush. I noted last week that this bill would do nothing to curtail or even force real transparency for earmarks added to authorization bills like WRDA. Already, this has come true. What earmark disclosure exists has been deliberately made so difficult to find and interpret that it amounts to no disclosure at all. A list of 20 earmarks was only obtained through tedious research by the staff of Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and the non-partisan group Taxpayers for Common Sense.
Recall that as they debated that ethics bill on the floor Aug. 2, Democrats praised their own handiwork as something that would make a real difference in the way Washington’s business is done. “You go through the process, and then after the process is concluded, in the dead of night, something is stuck into a conference bill,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, complaining about the “old” way of doing things. “This practice will end…No more dark of night additions to bills.”
That must be news to Feinstein’s California colleague, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D.), who managed the WRDA bill on the floor Monday. In conference, Boxer had inserted a $685 million earmark into WRDA for a California flood-control project.
Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense asks why this provision ” whether or not it proves to be a legitimate use of taxpayer money ” wasn’t included in the bill originally, instead of being snuck into it in a conference. “There’s no way that a $685 million project comes as a surprise,” he says. “Certainly not to the chairman of the [Environment and Public Works] committee, Senator Boxer, who asked it to be put in there.” He also said that this particular project has been considered in the appropriations process every year since 2002, but was rejected in previous years.
DeMint took the floor Monday, as he often does, to question the addition of earmarks in conference. “I am very disappointed these provisions were added in secret,” he said. “That is not how we should do things here, and it is a direct violation of a stated goal of the ethics bill that was recently passed and signed by the president ten days ago.”
But Boxer did not appear fazed by the mention of the ethics bill. Rather, she only became upset with DeMint. “I think it is important, as colleagues come to the floor to in a way demean this process, to understand if they demean the process, they are demeaning their own communities.” Boxer then stressed the fact that all of the earmarks in WRDA were worthy projects, and the bill needed to pass. It did, with 81 votes.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who had to be dragged kicking and screaming toward including any earmark reforms in the Democrats’ ethics bill, has already managed to circumvent his own law just ten days after it was signed. In a lengthy, technical letter to DeMint, his legal staff opened and exploited loopholes to provide an argument that goes something like this: Because WRDA merely authorizes federal projects, and does not actually provide the funding for them, its “earmarks” aren’t actually “earmarks” at all.
And that is funny. Reid’s legal team has a very different approach to this than his press staff, which, when WRDA originally passed in May, wrote a release taking credit for all the earmarks he put in the bill for Nevada, using the headline: “Reid Secures Funding for Important Nevada Water Projects.”
Most honest and ethical my ass
September 25, 2007 - 06:46 PM on September 25th, 2007
“Do Nothing Congress”
…because of Republicans. (!)
Can’t override those vetos without 60 votes.
Can’t stop filibusters without 60 votes.
If you look at the bills congress “passes”, they are all with a majority. for example, 55 to 45.
obstructionist republicans are to blame.
September 25, 2007 - 06:48 PM on September 25th, 2007
1.
September 25, 2007 - 06:56 PM on September 25th, 2007
Thems the facts, lady.
It IS a crying shame.
Wait til 2009. A STRONG democratic majority in congress and a dem president…probably Mrs. Clinton…you guys won’t be able to stop anything.
It’s going to be a great decade for the Left…
September 25, 2007 - 07:09 PM on September 25th, 2007
Thank God for the “obstructionist” Republicans…
September 25, 2007 - 07:17 PM on September 25th, 2007
Maybe if the Democrats put forth legislation worth voting for, they could get something done…
September 25, 2007 - 08:10 PM on September 25th, 2007
The problem is the dems have spent all their time investigating Bush and have ended up finding nothing. He has broken no laws and 300 separate investigations have proven that. As Robert says “liberalism is a form of mental illness” but I would add that a symtom is Bush Derangement Syndrome.
September 25, 2007 - 08:13 PM on September 25th, 2007
BTW, I got a job on the hill today. Nothing high profile or anything like that but a place to watch the goings on from. It’s a conservative organization.
September 25, 2007 - 08:19 PM on September 25th, 2007
Congratulations Bon Bon! I am so happy for you
September 25, 2007 - 08:29 PM on September 25th, 2007
Thanks Pam…it’s an interesting place and you can see the dome of the Capitol where I sit. Hopefully I will even meet some interesting folks. I won’t start for another week but I’m excited about it.
September 25, 2007 - 10:51 PM on September 25th, 2007
SF do you mean like the incredible success of the 40+ years of Democratic control of the congress? The military that was weakened at every turn for the benefit of welfare slugs who were making a livelihood out of welfare, food stamps and public housing? The billions stolen (How else do you describe taking money from someone who has EARNED it through the threat of force?)from the productive to provide handouts to those who refused to actually work? The system wherein a minor can’t take an aspirin without parental consent but can get a government funded abortion without their knowledge? An education system so bad that college seniors can’t pass a simple test on American history? An educational system that doesn’t teach that there is a right and a wrong answer as long as you feel good about your answer? Corrupt politicians who are lauded for their actions versus thrown out in shame/ and or jailed? Democratic governors standing on the steps of the state universities saying that the university will be desegregated over their dead bodies? KKK members lynching blacks only to have the crimes covered up by Democratic Sheriffs, DAs and Judges? Censorship in the name of political correctness. Censorship that calls a Crucifix suspended in Urine ART, but declares a ten commandments statue unconstitutional. A party so full of naive idiots who claim that gun control will stop criminals from getting guns while refusing admit that it’s already illegal for them to commit crimes in the first place and also refuse to actually lock dangerous men away to prevent them from hurting anyone else. A party who’s economic policies have repeatedly caused increases in unemployment, reduced productivity, reduced tax revenues, increased inflation, etc etc etc.
Yes we absolutely do need to have this country run into the ground by a bunch of idiotic Democrats. We’re teetering on the edge, we might as well have them push us over. Perhaps if there are a few more terrorist attacks here and abroad, double digit inflation, double digit unemployment, and another Democratic party caused recession, or possibly a depression might be just what it takes to weaken this country to the point of it being taken over by our wonderful neighbor to the south. A neighbor who actively aids its citizens in breaking our laws and uses its corrupt military to protect the very drug dealers who are helping smuggle terrorists and weapons into the US.
Here’s a little tidbit for the people so worried about those in poverty. The average head of household in a family in poverty works 16 hours a week. Could that be part of the problem? Three of the top ten contributing factors in ending up in poverty are: Having a child out of wedlock, failure to graduate high school, being arrested as a minor. Perhaps the quickest way to prevent kids from ending up in poverty may be to just teach them to WORK HARD, DON’T HAVE CHILDREN OUT OF WEDLOCK, and DON’T COMMIT CRIMES. Of course those things are considered values and therefore teaching them would be against the approved government school curriculum.
September 26, 2007 - 12:07 AM on September 26th, 2007
“Can’t override those vetos without 60 votes.”
Actually, you can’t over ride vetoes without 67 votes.
This reminds me of the obstructionism of the Democrats over the last 5 years. It really serve the Dems right as they can dish it out but apparently can’t take it.
Personally, I like it. In the current times a gridlocked government is a good government.
September 26, 2007 - 05:53 AM on September 26th, 2007
I’m not so sure a gridlocked government is good Ted. Ideally they would work on legislation in a bi partisan way for the good of all citizens making compromises when necessary. I think the current crop of leaders are so out of touch the rest of us suffer.
Most democrats have proven they are no better than some republicans. I’m not sure how to solve the problem but it could start with the public being more aware of whats going on downtown and constantly calling their local legislators to voice their opinions. If they were bombarded constantly they would be forced to listen.
September 26, 2007 - 05:54 AM on September 26th, 2007
FAO….your second to the last paragraph is scary for most but I fear the liberals in this country want just that.
September 26, 2007 - 05:57 AM on September 26th, 2007
11-12 You both make valid points. Have either of you noticed that they aren’t gridlocked enough to stop working together on earmarks?
September 26, 2007 - 06:08 AM on September 26th, 2007
1, Thank God for some sane Republicans. Your whacko donkeys would turn the US into Zimbabwe.
September 26, 2007 - 07:08 AM on September 26th, 2007
Oh yes, those earmarks. I believe this is where a local community can get together and make a change. Every community has both rep and dem groups that meet. Why not get together and discuss how much these things are really needed, if they are and how much the locals can kick in.
There are alot of philanthropists out there who would be happy to help raise (and donate) money if asked. Even if the federal government gave money towards a project would it have to be the whole amount? Maybe only a subsidy or a matching grant. I think the bottom line is there is alot of money that could be saved.
September 27, 2007 - 11:49 PM on September 27th, 2007
BonBon, I honestly fear that that may be where we’re headed with this insane partisanship. Hell, Newt Gingrich even said that it’s insane. On the radio the other day he described a plan for something that a Democratic Congresswoman came up with. His comment was, “It’s a good plan. Why should I refuse to acknowledge that an idea is good just because it’s put forward by a Democrat? A good idea is a good idea, why should we care where it comes from?”
There is a simple fact that seems to have gone over the heads of the liberal dems. The fact that the founding fathers of this country were former British Army officers. They were simply disillusioned with the way that the government that they had fought for was treating them. Other than Wesley Clark, (a man that I feel is a disgrace to the uniform because of his comment that, despite spending his entire life as an army officer or the son of one, he was not nor had he ever been a soldier.)what military officer haven’t the Dems insulted?
Their actions have been despicable.
October 2, 2007 - 06:07 PM on October 2nd, 2007
[...] post them soon because I plan on taking this in a bill to congress. Maybe congress could get *something* done this [...]
October 26, 2007 - 07:34 AM on October 26th, 2007
[...] drained the swamp? The Democrats refuse to allow public scrutiny of all earmarks. Pelosi’s Do Nothing Congress Is Getting Attention, Another Cut And Run Failure For The Democrats. Democrats: Gen. Petraeus [...]
October 27, 2007 - 07:36 AM on October 27th, 2007
[...] They are there, but they are still a do-nothing-Congress. [...]