Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
“Congressional leaders unveiled a government-wide $1.7 trillion spending package early Tuesday that includes another large round of aid to Ukraine, a nearly 10% boost in defense spending and roughly $40 billion in emergency spending, mostly to assist communities across the country recovering from drought, hurricanes and other natural disasters. The bill, which runs for 4,155 pages, includes about $772.5 billion for non-defense, discretionary programs and $858 billion for defense.” AP News
The right is critical of the bill, arguing that it spends too much on domestic programs.
“Congress is jamming through major changes in public-land management; a plan to phase out large-scale driftnet fishing; new oversight on horse-racing; a restructure of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; changes to help Boeing meet aircraft-certification deadlines; and alterations to lobster regulation. That’s before lawmakers shoe-horned in sweeping healthcare changes on everything from Medicaid eligibility to the Children’s Health Insurance Program to Medicare provider payments…
“The political process here is as bad as most of the policy. Major changes in law deserve their own debate and vote. Instead, a handful of powerful legislators wrote this vast bill in a backroom. Members can use the need to fund the government as an excuse to say they supported, or opposed, specific provisions as future politics demands. This didn’t have to be. Congress could pass a short-term funding bill and kick this mess to next year when the GOP House would have more leverage.”
Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal
“The 4,155-page $1.7 trillion funding bill includes some important measures, like a ban of TikTok on all government devices and reforms to the Electoral Count Act, but is also stuffed with earmarks for special interests and liberal pet projects. In other words, the bill could be a lot worse, but it could also be a lot slimmer…
“Alas, when it comes to spending, Republicans are no different than Democrats. A group of Senate Republicans, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) , helped negotiate the omnibus and reportedly plan to help Democrats pass it. Unsurprisingly, the same Republicans who support the bill are also the ones who stand to benefit the most from it. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), for example, stands to bring in $650 million in earmarks, Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) will bring in $511 million, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) $490 million. In fact, eight of the 10 biggest earmark beneficiaries are Republicans.”
Kaylee McGhee White, Washington Examiner
“Congress has approved some $5 trillion of debt spending since COVID-19 hit these shores. That's more money adjusted for inflation than Washington spent to win World War II. Worse, COVID-19 is long over, but the debt spending isn't slowing down a bit. Biden has spent at a more financially ruinous pace than any president in modern times. But even with COVID-19 long over, Congress isn't pulling back. The new pandemic in America is runaway spending debt…
“In a sane world, we would be searching under the sofa pillows for loose change and dollar bills to save money in bankrupt Washington. Instead, [the two sides] have struck a bipartisan secret pact not to do anything about our national addiction to red ink.”
Stephen Moore, Washington Examiner
The left is glad the ECA is included but disappointed that several other important priorities were left out of the bill.
The left is glad the ECA is included but disappointed that several other important priorities were left out of the bill.
“Buried inside [the bill] are provisions that would reform the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which governs how Congress counts presidential electors… Just about every main ECA reform in the omnibus responds directly to what Trump did [in 2020]. It would clarify that the vice president’s role in counting electors is ceremonial. (Trump pressured his vice president to halt the count.) It would raise the threshold for Congress to nullify legitimate electors. (Trump got dozens of Republicans to object to Joe Biden’s electors.)…
“Reform would also combat state-level subversion. Trump pressured GOP state legislators to appoint sham electors for himself, so reform would essentially require governors to certify electors in keeping with state popular vote outcomes. It would create new avenues to legally challenge fraudulent electors and require Congress to count electors that are validated by the courts. It is often said that reformers must avoid fighting the last war. But these reforms also fight the next one.”Greg Sargent, Washington Post
“Republicans happily teamed up with Democrats this month to authorize $858 billion in military spending for the next fiscal year, but the GOP is refusing to even consider proposals to revive the Child Tax Credit expansion that lifted millions of kids out of poverty last year…
“In an attempt to jumpstart negotiations, Democrats have said they would be willing to entertain a slate of corporate tax cuts that the GOP wants to enact before the end of the year. But even the prospect of delivering another major windfall to large companies hasn't proved sufficiently enticing for Republicans to suspend their longstanding opposition to government anti-poverty programs…
“The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) estimates that eliminating the phase-in and allowing the low-income families that are ineligible under current law to receive the full CTC benefit would cost roughly $12 billion a year. By comparison, the House and Senate voted this month to increase U.S. military spending by $90 billion dollars over Fiscal Year 2022 levels.”
Jake Johnson, Salon
“The omnibus also leaves out the Afghan Adjustment Act, which would have expanded the special immigration visa program to help people fleeing Afghanistan and created a path to permanent residency for those already here. Tens of thousands of Afghan refugees in the United States are at risk of deportation because they are on a temporary status known as ‘humanitarian parole.’ The act would have helped those people stuck in legal limbo, and aided many more U.S. allies still trapped in Afghanistan… Advocates are now hoping Senator Chuck Schumer will bring it for a floor vote.”
Tori Otten, New Republic
