Obama signs 410 Billion Omnibus package; earmarks galore!

Unfortunately for us, the Omnibus was signed into law today and it’s 8,000+ list of earmarks. I tried reading them, but it is literally thousands of pages from individuals politicians requesting projects. Some of the popular ones like Hawaii starlight research are published all over the Internet, but this bill is earmark heaven, maybe it’s the same heaven they are studying in Hawaii?

So how does Obama prove he is a liar? A man who originally promised to bring a new wave of accountability to Washington and a new way of doing things is certainly not bringing much change. For one, I am reminded by a news story from Jan 6th, where he made a very brash statement and I vowed to bring this up. Even though he was specifically referring to the first stimulus package, his words rang clear.

The package will set a “new higher standard of accountability, transparency and oversight. We are going to ban all earmarks, the process by which individual members insert projects without review,” he said. “We’re not having earmarks in the recovery package. Period.”

First of all we know that the first stimulus bill had plenty of pork, they may not have been officially or technically earmarks, but they certainly reeked of the same stench. Still, such bold statements would certainly indicate that this man had a problem with earmarks, yet he has no problem signing off on about 8,000 of them knowing full well that our economy is getting worse and worse and NO recovery has taken place!

Several other items in this bill also taints this entire package and puts Obama’s judgment into questions. According to this story from Washington Post.

School voucher system in DC is in jeopardy and Republicans were unable to stop the provision. A move by the liberals and Obama to favor the teacher unions and hurt students in DC area, one of the worst crime infested schools in America. While Obama claimed that his goal was to improve education, it is now apparent that his only interest is to do so via federal programs at the behest of the teacher unions. It is further estimated that the cost per student in public schools exceeds that of the individual voucher programs.

“Another contentious provision targets the District’s school voucher program, a Republican favorite that provides 1,700 low-income students with the equivalent of a $7,500 grant to attend a private school. Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) sought unsuccessfully to strike language from the bill that would require its reauthorization after the 2009-2010 school year, a move he said would leave current recipients in limbo. “

Overall this bill represents a substantial raise to government spending in both government programs and individual pay raises. While average Americans are experiencing pay cuts, wage freezes, 401k match reductions, layoffs and uncertainty our politicians are continuing in their ways as if nothing in this country changed. How can a raise be justifiable when unemployment is rising every month? How can politicians justify their behavior while preaching to us responsibility? Unfortunately 8 Republicans jumped ship again and allowed yet another bill this country cannot afford to pass on through. Specter and Snowe are not a surprise, however 3 Democrats opposed this bill and kudos to them.

Sen. Evan Bayh [D, IN]

Sen. Russell Feingold [D, WI]

Sen. Claire McCaskill [D, MO]

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.

Omnibus spending bill passes House along party lines.

Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009 passed the House today 245-178 with 16 Republicans supporting this bill. This bill outlines roughly 410 Billion for the Federal government to operate and arguably is a necessity. Perhaps this bill would not have even showed up on the radar screen, but after spending about 800 Billion on spending projects that should have gone through appropriations this bill hurts.

While Obama declares war on the deficit one has to wonder just how much more they can spend with the following still going to happen:

- Auto industry asking for 20-30B
- Housing foreclosure prevention plan for 75B
- AIG asking for 60B more
- Additional Afghanistan troop deployment.

I wrote a piece a long time ago that can be found in the right panel about Obama’s incoming inflation and frankly I still see the scenario playing out. After the taxation of the wealthy yields less than the projected amount and businesses continue to suffer our government will invariably print money and cause inflation – a tax on everyone through bracket creep.

It will be interesting to see if this Omnibus bill meets any kind of organized opposition from the Senate, because as of now somebody should seriously consider slashing large chunks of the federal government and saving this nation money. There has to be come correlation to the private industry and unfortunately the federal government operates in a world where raises come no matter what and reduction is as rare as honesty.

Imagine if you were running a small business and found yourself in the midst of a massive recession and mounting debt. What do you do? Continue to borrow more and give all your employees raises? No, you will probably slim down operations and regrettably lay people off. If only the federal government followed such protocol. One can dream.