In the sort of Washington move that you really have to laugh at, the Senate is considering the omnibus spending bill after it squeaked through the House. It is the sort of action that gives Congress a bad name. With apologies to Winston Churchill I say, "Never in human history has there been so much political posturing by so few." Here are just a few examples:
1. The bill is the result of a negotiation between the Republican and Democrat leaders of both the House and Senate. To be clear, that means that the House Democrat leadership agreed in advance to the proposed bill. Then when the bill moved to the floor of the House, Nancy Pelosi announced herself "heartbroken" that the White House supported the passage of the bill. Huh? First she and her leadership team agree on a package and then, because of posturing by some of the Democrats, they berate president Obama for supporting that package?
2. Senator Warren knows that there is bipartisan support for altering some of the terms of the Dodd-Frank bill. A short time ago, when a bill to make this change was voted upon in the House, roughly 35% of the Democrats voted for it. When the provision gets lumped into the omnibus spending bill, however, Warren denounces it as some sort of Republican plot. She wants to shut down the government to prevent the change. This is the same senator Warren who spent weeks denouncing any government shutdown as terrorism, extortion and criminal. Well, I guess, times change.
3. Senator McCain says that he will not vote in favor of the funding bill because it alters the McCain/Feingold campaign finance law that carries his name. McCain knows that the limitations in that law no longer prevent large contributions from anyone. McCain is just posturing again.
4. Some fringe conservatives are denouncing the funding bill because it provides full funding for Obamacare. This is wrong. Obamacare already has the funding it needs. In other words, even if the bill did not pass and the government shut down, Obamacare would still be funded. The facts, however, do not stop attack.
5. Some Republican senators are demanding that funds for the immigration directives recently announced by president Obama be stripped from the bill. They know that the Senate will not pass the bill in that form, but that after the new Senate convenes in January, there is a much better chance that such a bill will pass. Pushing for the move now is nothing but a political ploy.
1. The bill is the result of a negotiation between the Republican and Democrat leaders of both the House and Senate. To be clear, that means that the House Democrat leadership agreed in advance to the proposed bill. Then when the bill moved to the floor of the House, Nancy Pelosi announced herself "heartbroken" that the White House supported the passage of the bill. Huh? First she and her leadership team agree on a package and then, because of posturing by some of the Democrats, they berate president Obama for supporting that package?
2. Senator Warren knows that there is bipartisan support for altering some of the terms of the Dodd-Frank bill. A short time ago, when a bill to make this change was voted upon in the House, roughly 35% of the Democrats voted for it. When the provision gets lumped into the omnibus spending bill, however, Warren denounces it as some sort of Republican plot. She wants to shut down the government to prevent the change. This is the same senator Warren who spent weeks denouncing any government shutdown as terrorism, extortion and criminal. Well, I guess, times change.
3. Senator McCain says that he will not vote in favor of the funding bill because it alters the McCain/Feingold campaign finance law that carries his name. McCain knows that the limitations in that law no longer prevent large contributions from anyone. McCain is just posturing again.
4. Some fringe conservatives are denouncing the funding bill because it provides full funding for Obamacare. This is wrong. Obamacare already has the funding it needs. In other words, even if the bill did not pass and the government shut down, Obamacare would still be funded. The facts, however, do not stop attack.
5. Some Republican senators are demanding that funds for the immigration directives recently announced by president Obama be stripped from the bill. They know that the Senate will not pass the bill in that form, but that after the new Senate convenes in January, there is a much better chance that such a bill will pass. Pushing for the move now is nothing but a political ploy.
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