Chump change

Graham: If START Fails, Don't Blame GOP
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) vented some frustration outside the Senate chamber Friday, pushing back at accusations that Republicans are trying to run out the clock on New START. “Maybe we’ve been spending a little time trying to beat the $1.2 Trillion spending bill that was a monstrosity… Graham told reporters. “Well, do you think [it’s] dead because we sat on our butt?” he asked. “We’ve been working our ass off, quite frankly, to keep the lame ...

Republican Earmark Hypocrisy [Now WHO Could Have Predicted THIS?]
Who knew that Republicans would abandon their election promises so quickly? This entry was posted in Earmarks, National Politics, US Senate and tagged broken promises, Congress, conservative, earmarks, hypocrisy, John Cornyn, John Thune, politics, republican party, Tea Party. Bookmark the permalink. » Get Skype, call free! ...

Rogers hires ex lobbyist to run Appropriations staff
Incoming Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) has hired a former defense industry Lobbyist to be Chief of Staff for the spending panel. Rogers said Friday that Bill Inglee, a former vice president at Lockheed Martin, will be the panel’s staff director. Inglee lobbied the Appropriations panel from 2005 to 2009. He’s made donations to prominent Democratic earmark advocates like the late Jack Murtha of Pennsylvania, Ike Skelton of Missouri and Hawaii's Sen. Daniel Inouye, chair...

House funds govt for 3 days
Published: Dec. 17, 2010 at 5:47 PM WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- The U.S. House Friday decided to fund the government only for three more days, meaning members will have to stay in Washington next week. House and Senate negotiators have been working on a Budget bill and House leaders had hoped an agreement could be worked out to allow for adjournment. But without an agreement in sight, House leaders decided to fund the government for just 72 hours and reconvene Tuesday, The Hill reported. "There...

Earmarkers feast on pork one last time before diet
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., left, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., walk on Capitol Hill in Washington Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2010. The spending barons on Capitol Hill, long used to muscling past opponents of bills larded with pet projects, are seeking one last victory before Tea Party-backed GOP Insurgents storm Congress intent on ending the good old days of pork-barrel politics. You might call it the last running of the old bulls in Congress. In the waning days of the Lame Duck congressional session,...

The earmark difference in 2010
Image via Wikipedia Byron York: Press coverage of the Budget frenzy on Capitol Hill has suggested that pork-barrel earmark spending is still a Bipartisan problem, that after months of self-righteous Rhetoric about fiscal discipline, Republicans and Democrats remain equal-opportunity earmarkers. It's not true. A new analysis by a group of federal-spending Watchdogs shows a striking imbalance between the parties when it comes to earmark requests. Democrats remain raging spenders, while Republica...

Reid Pulls Controversial $1.2 Trillion Spending Bill in Favor of Short-Term Budget Fix
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., pauses while speaking with the media, after their Senate Democratic Caucus, Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2010, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, bowing to Republican opposition to a 1,924-page $1.2 Trillion spending measure packed with Earmarks, withdrew the bill and said he would work with Republican leaders on a smaller, short-term Budget fix to avoid a looming government shutdown. The government already is operating on a te...

Harry Reid Pulls Massive Omnibus Spending Bill; Mitch McConnell Reacts Video 12/16/10
Here is video of GOP Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell reacting to news that Democrat Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid had pulled the massive $1.1 Trillion Omnibus Spending Bill because he did not have the 60-votes for Cloture - which would bring it up for an Up or Down vote. The massive bill was filled with more than 39,000 Earmarks, and was 1,924-pages long . This means some kind of continuing resolution will likely be needed to fund the Government until the new Congress can act in J...

Oops! How the Food Safety Bill Passed Congress, But Really Didn't
ABC News’ Matthew Jaffe reports: Congress has a lot of odd rules, but one of the more basic ones is that revenue measures must originate in the House of Representatives, not the Senate. That rule now appears to have caused the demise of the Food Safety bill. Yes, the Food Safety bill that passed the House and then passed the Senate now looks unlikely to pass Congress this year. How? It’s a long story, but it starts well over a year ago. In July 2009 the House passed a sweeping food safety...

GOP senators ready to vote against 'don't ask, don't tell,' aides say
Washington (CNN) -- Four key GOP senators who have announced their support for a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Repeal are prepared to join Democrats in voting to let the bill proceed, as long as Congress first deals with a measure to fund the government, aides to the four said Friday. The aides said Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, Lisa Murkowski and Scott Brown will vote Saturday to end debate on the ban on Openly Gay and Lesbian people in the Military if the Senate passes a stopgap spending b...

Congress rushes to finish bills before holidays
WASHINGTON — Rushing to finish by Christmas, congressional Democrats worked Friday to secure Senate ratification of a new Arms Control treaty and to end the Military’s ban on Openly Gay service members as they neared the end of two tumultuous years of single-party government. Legislation to keep the Federal Government running until mid- to late February was also on the agenda, a matter for negotiations with emboldened Republicans who will take control of the House and add to their nu...

Food safety bill could die (the one that already passed)
Source: CNN Washington (CNN) -- A sweeping Food Safety bill that passed the House and Senate earlier this year before stalling because of a legislative technicality now will likely die because Republicans object to giving it quick approval in the waning days of the congressional session, Senate leadership aides on both sides of the aisle said Friday. The bill, designed to increase government inspections of the food supply in the wake of recent deadly food borne disease outbreaks, originally pass...

Begich: Sorry about those earmarks, Alaska
From Erika Bolstad in Washington D.C. -- Earmarks have taken a hit in recent weeks, and only in Alaska would a senator apologize for not being able to deliver them. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaksa, did just that, though, in a letter to Alaska organizations that had earmarks in an omnibus spending bill that fell apart last night. "I am disappointed, plain and simple, since we have worked in a Bipartisan manner to create a bill that contains projects as requested by nearly every Senator," he wrote. "M...

A vow to vote down their own earmarks
The port city of Pascagoula on Mississippi's Gulf Coast wants to build a beach promenade, with new benches, lush landscaping and a lighted pathway for joggers, cyclists and dog walkers. So the municipality of 24,000 hired a pair of Washington Lobbyists. The city shelled out $40,000 a year, according to Public Records, to retain Jeffrey Brooks and Wayne Weidie. They are former top aides to Gulf Coast congressmen and frequent Donors to Mississippi's elected officials. The lobbyists parlayed th...

Republican senators say they'll vote against their own earmarks
The port city of Pascagoula on Mississippi's Gulf Coast wants to build a beach promenade, with new benches, lush landscaping and a lighted pathway for joggers, cyclists and dog walkers. This Story Republican senators say they'll vote against their own Earmarks West Wing Briefing: Poll on tax deal hints Obama still hasn't sold public Pimco's Kashkari Says No `Hard Choices' Made in Tax Plan Recession pushed down tax 'burden' Declining revenue Senate spending bill contains thousands of Earmarks ...

Deficit reduction: Why it may not be dead despite the costly tax cut deal
The Tax Cut deal that President Obama signed Friday costs $858 billion, making the cause of Deficit reduction that much more challenging. But Deficit hawks still see some hopeful signs. President Barack Obama smiles after signing into law a bill extending Bush-era tax cuts at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington Friday. With President Obama's signing of a historic tax-cut agreement Friday, Deficit hawks may be in mourning. The deal costs $858 billion, and it’s all paid fo...

Reid Drops Omnibus Spending Bill
Politico reports: Senate Democrats abruptly abandoned an omnibus Budget bill for the coming year, pushing major spending decisions into the next Congress and giving Republicans immense new leverage to confront President Barack Obama priorities. The decision Thursday night sweeps away months of Bipartisan work by the Senate Appropriations Committee which had crafted the $1.1 Trillion bill to meet spending targets embraced by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R—Ky.) himself prior to the electio...

With big spending bill's demise, is 'earmark' new dirty word on Hill?
Deficit hawks and Watchdog groups see Thursday's demise of an omnibus spending bill in the Senate as a turning point. A critical mass of lawmakers, they say, are committed to an earmark ban. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., holds a copy of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington Thursday. There was no last hurrah for Earmarks - known to supporters as “congressionally mandated spending,” and to critics a...

Tea Party Kills $1 Trillion Bill But Dont Rest Yet
Ben Johnson, FloydReports.com Both Republicans and Democrats agree on one thing: The Tea Party deserves credit for killing the Democrats’ $1.27 Trillion spendfest and power grab. After realizing he lacked enough Republican or Democratic votes, Harry Reid withdrew the bill last night. As tempted as Conservatives may be to pat themselves on the back and celebrate more important things, like Christmas, we must not rest. Congressional liberals have one last assault on liberty planned for thi...

Obama: Tax deal will 'create jobs for the American people'
President Obama signed a temporary extension of the George W. Bush Tax Cuts into law today, saying the disputed package will "grow our economy" and "create jobs for the American People." Without the bill, all of the Tax Cuts that Bush signed into law would have expired at the end of the year, and American families would be looking at thousands of dollars in higher taxes, Obama said at a signing ceremony. The Legislation is "a substantial victory for middle-class families across the country," Oba...

A much better combination
WASHINGTON — Nightfall on the Kennedy era in Washington looks like this: Representative Patrick J. Kennedy’s office space surrendered to a Republican, his family Memorabilia in boxes, and Mr. Kennedy yearning for a role away from the public eye. When the lame-duck session of Congress wraps up, Mr. Kennedy, 43, will return to Rhode Island, settling into his recently renovated farmhouse in Portsmouth. When his eighth term ends early next month, it will be the first time since 1947 R...

Collapse of the omnibus spending bill: rise of the 'tea party Congress'?
Some see ideals of Tea Party movement at play in Senate, after a huge spending bill loaded with Earmarks is scuttled after GOP lawmakers thought twice about it....

With Omnibus Dead, How Will The Government Fund Health Reform Implementation?
With Omnibus Dead, How Will The Government Fund Health Reform Implementation? Last night, citing overwhelming opposition from Republicans, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) dropped the omnibus spending package that included some $1 billion in funding for health reform and instead opted for a much smaller continuing resolution (CR) to extend federal spending authority into the new year. With the defeat of the omnibus, Republicans are pushing Reid to issue a CR at the 2008 levels, which...

Defense Department Bill Contains $8 Million for Ted Kennedy Shrine
Geez...from the Traditional Values Coalition: "Just when Americans started to hope that the liberal leadership in the Senate had learned its lesson last November, they do something which is so blatantly hypocritical and offensive. "Few legislators despised the U.S. Military more than the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.). "So where does the Senate include funding for (take a deep breath here because this is going to make your blood boil!) the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States S...

Who will fund the Mary Jo Kopechne shrine?
From the Traditional Values Organization: Washington, D.C. -Traditional Values Coalition Executive Director Andrea Lafferty issued the following statement regarding the Omnibus Spending Bill’s $8 million earmark for a shrine to the late Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA). “Just when Americans started to hope that the liberal leadership in the Senate had learned its lesson last November, they do something which is so blatantly hypocritical and offensive. “Few legislators despised th...