Senate Votes to Quit Dithering, Sends '09 Omnibus to Obama

 

UPDATE: President Obama has signed the bill into law.

After a couple of days of voting down Republican-offered amendments, the Senate finally agreed last night to end debate on a $410 omnibus spending bill. After the 62-35 vote, the Senate ended the FY 2009 appropriations process by a voice vote.

While Republicans and some Democrats opposed the bill because of its cost, Republicans loudly complained about the bill's $7.7 billion in earmarked spending. But GOP's whine over earmarks in the spending legislation, however, was accompanied by a bit of cheese, as Republican lawmakers will be bringing home 40 percent of the cheddar to their districts.

Image by Flickr user pete donnelly(aka think001) used under a Creative Commons license.

(Craig Jennings 03/11/09)

Comments

by Anonymous (not verified) on 03/12/09

Pointing out the hypocrisy of

Pointing out the hypocrisy of Republicans, a well-worn path, is much less important than pointing out the problem with earmarks: earmarks are bound to lead to a lower rate of competitive bidding. This is another example of the corporate welfare state that both Rs and Ds contribute to. Ultimately, the taxpayers get screwed. Meanwhile, David Obey refuses to even discuss earmarks: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/12/us/politics/12earmarks.html?ref=us. It shows just how ignorant the Democratic leadership is to the concerns of regular people who fume when they hear about wasteful government spending. Maybe all earmarks aren't bad, but they do give government a bad name. Congress needs to come to this realization sooner rather than later. Until then, I would support any veto President Obama issues on a bill containing earmarks. He seems like the only elected official in Washington who isn't hopelessly out of touch.