Democrats' budget bill: $1.1 trillion; 1,900 pages - David Rogers

Taxpayer Calculator: $8Billion in Earmarks
Who will sell out? Where are the turncoats? While most Americans digest the latest Congressional spending bill, Washington insiders are already counting noses. Click here to see how much the FY2011 Omnibus Spending Bill would cost you. A showdown is coming to D.C. and the pressure is on Democrats to hold together despite mounting criticism of wasteful spending, while Republicans look to grab some crossover votes. The fate of the government, literally hangs in the balance. Without Congressional ...

GOP looks to box in Obama on $1.1 trillion omnibus
 Republicans are trying to box in President Obama on congressional Democrats $1.1 Trillion spending bill by dredging up the president's past statements. The GOP is pointing to the president's previous remarks about big spending bills like the trillion-dollar 2011 omnibus in order to set up a difficult political situation for the White House. Republicans pointed to Obama's past statements that were critical of bills similar to the one Democrats in the Senate have proposed to keep the governm...

Harkin includes 152 earmarks in omnibus bill, 4th most in Senate
The Senate Appropriations Committee released an omnibus federal spending bill on Tuesday. The bill essentially sets the Budget for the Federal Government to continue operating into the next year, and Congress must take action on it or a similar bill before the end of the year in order for the Federal Government to keep its doors open after Jan. 1. More than 6,000 Earmarks were included in the omnibus worth more than $8 billion in spending for 2011, though they represent only a small fraction of ...

Crucial funding bill will test senators on earmarks
WASHINGTON — A $1.2 Trillion omnibus bill to fund the government is headed for a Senate vote that will put lawmakers on the spot over the practice of earmarking money for such projects as the Edward M. Kennedy Institute of the US Senate in Boston, which would receive $8 million in the measure. The 1,924-page bill, unveiled by Democrats yesterday, includes thousands of such Earmarks and comes about a month after Republicans adopted a nonbinding Moratorium on pushing for such projects. The ...

Republicans and Democrats Pledge to Read 1,924-Page Omnibus Spending Bill Before Vote
Wednesday, December 15, 2010 By Matt Cover Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) addresses a Press Conference on Capitol Hill (Photo: Cornyn Web site) (CNSNews.com) - Several Republican and Democratic senators say they will read the full 1,924-page omnibus spending bill before voting on  the $1.1 Trillion Legislation later this week. The current government-funding package expires on Saturday at midnight, making it imperative for Congress to approve new funding of some sort before then. The House of...

If necessary, shut down the lame duck over omnibus bill
The top headline from the Drudge Report this morning described the $1.27 Trillion 1,924 page omnibus spending bill Majority Leader Harry Reid introduced as one last feast.  Once you read some of the details though, you will probably describe this in far more vulgar terms. The new omnibus bill contains about $8 billion worth of Earmarks. In the Commerce, Justice, Science appropriations bill, for example, there is a $6,000,000 earmark for the Mississippi Polymer Institute at the University of...

When the Tea Party wave crashes into D.C. wall
When last we checked in with the Tea Party movement, it had claimed victories throughout the nation in the Midterm Elections and served notice on Republicans and Democrats alike that things in Washington were going to change. No more Earmarks. No more secret negotiations. No more Deficit spending. No more Lobbyists running Congress. So where are we now? Dana Milbank of the Washington Post reports on the education of Tea Party darling Kristi Noem: “When the good people of South Dakota vot...

Congress: Reaching the finish line
The New York Times: "The Senate on Wednesday approved the $858 billion tax plan negotiated by the White House and Republican leaders, and House Democrats said they expected to pass the bill on Thursday after a final, and seemingly futile, effort to change a provision that benefits wealthy estates." Roll Call on Speaker Nancy Pelosi appearing to sit on the sidelines of the tax debate: “Pelosi has never been one to shy away from a fight. But she appears to have made the calculation that sel...

DeMint Calls On Republicans To Force Fall Spending Showdown With Democrats
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) is sending out a warning to his fellow Republicans: Stand tall against Government Spending this fall, and be prepared for a showdown. "[B]efore they're replaced in January, all of the Democrats who are put out of a job in November will be able to come back and rob the nation blind," DeMint writes in the conservative National Review. At a glance it appears DeMint is lashing out at Democrats. But his real concern is that members of his own party -- who he described last w...

Democrats in spending frenzy on way out the door
Image by Getty Images via @daylife Daniel Mitchell: The weeks since Election Day have provided nauseating confirmation of Mark Twain's observation: "There is no distinctly Native American criminal class except Congress." Exhibit A is the "omnibus" spending bill Harry Reid is trying to push through the Senate. This monstrosity contains about 6,500 Earmarks -- special provisions inserted on behalf of Lobbyists to benefit Special Interests. The Lobbyists get big fees, the interest groups get han...

Republican Senator porkers (earmarks) in the omnibus bill
Republican Senator porkers (Earmarks) in the omnibus bill You expect the Democrats the load bills up with pork aka earmarks, but one would think that the Republicans got the hint after the November 2nd Elections. Looks like the Republicans are as braindead as the Democrats when it comes to the voter’s ire. In fact, while there are over 6,000 earmarks in the latest $1.1 Trillion dollar omnibus bill, the two leaders in earmark request according to Cubachi are the two Mississippi Republican...

Republicans For Pork?
Though it may contain billions worth of Earmarks they requested, most Senate Republicans are outraged at the 2,000-page omnibus spending package. However, if even a few GOP Senators vote ‘yes,’ the bill would have a good chance of passing. The prime culprits are the Republican members of the Senate Appropriations Committee (whence the pork abomination came). They are the ones most likely to be targeted, and potentially swayed, by Senate Democrats to support the bill. GOP aides are wo...

Print view: Gene Robinson flipped on the middle-class cuts, maintaining his standing on cable
A few Fridays ago, the lady offered a fact-challenged piece about the state’s deeply vile boxing commission. (Yes, you read that correctly. See THE DAILY HOWLER, 11/19/10.) This week, it was a vile decision by the state’s film commission which called down the wrath of the gods. To watch Maddow’s full presentation, we’ll suggest that you simply click here. Warning: Rather typically, this report starts with an irrelevant recollection of something the wondrous broadcaster did w...

Government May Shut Down Amid Standoff on Pork-Filled Spending Bill
A government shutdown looms as Congress risks missing a key deadline this weekend over the battle in the Senate on a massive 2,000-page catchall spending bill that Republicans have vowed to oppose unless they can strip it of Earmarks. A government shutdown looms as Congress risks missing a key deadline this weekend over the battle in the Senate on a massive 2,000-page catchall spending bill that Republicans have vowed to oppose unless they can strip it of Earmarks. Senate Majority Lead...

Government On Verge Of Shutdown
Fox News: A government shutdown looms as Congress risks missing a key deadline this weekend over the battle in the Senate on a massive 2,000-page catchall spending bill that Republicans have vowed to oppose unless they can strip it of Earmarks. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is expected Thursday to take up the $1.27 Trillion omnibus spending bill that would fund the government through the end of the Fiscal Year, to Sept. 30. But Republicans have threatened to stall debate by forcing the 1,...

Government May Shut Down Amid Standoff on Pork-Filled Spending Bill
A government shutdown looms as Congress risks missing a key deadline this weekend over the battle in the Senate on a massive 2,000-page catchall spending bill that Republicans have vowed to oppose unless they can strip it of Earmarks. A government shutdown looms as Congress risks missing a key deadline this weekend over the battle in the Senate on a massive 2,000-page catchall spending bill that Republicans have vowed to oppose unless they can strip it of Earmarks. Senate Majority Lead...

The Note: Obama Gets Coal Now, But Presents Later
By MICHAEL FALCONE and AMY WALTER Given their post-election positions on the evils of Earmarks, congressional Republicans and President Obama both look hypocritical when it comes to the debate about the billions of dollars worth of pork stuck in the omnibus spending bill. We detailed some of those pet projects in the Note yesterday -- the same day that the White House urged Congress to pass the bill despite the president’s own promise to do away with earmarks. “We wish there were no earm...

Closed for the Holidays
If the Congress doesn't pass a spending bill by the end of the month, the government could shut down.Republican and Democratic leaders are now engaged in a brinksmanship that could result in a temporary shutdown of the Federal Government. After the election, Republicans voted among themselves to eschew all Earmarks for two years, and now they have to make good on their pledge. Yesterday, Democrats' chief appropriator, Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI) unveiled what's known as an omnibus spending bill -...

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 ...

Mass. has $213m stake in earmark fight
WASHINGTON — A $1.1 Trillion spending bill now under review in the Senate includes at least $213 million for 174 earmarked projects for Massachusetts in what amounts to a last-ditch effort to approve projects that have come under attack as wasteful pork by many Republicans and President Obama. The bill includes $400,000 for the Paul Revere House in Boston’s North End, $8 million for the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, and dozens of other Earmarks that would...

Why the GOP is in trouble over earmarks
Although Earmarks account for less than 1 percent of the Budget, they have become a political hot potato.  They are important because they serve as the "sugar" that allows massive and often toxic bills to pass.  When members of Congress see massive spending bills and break down the packages, they find it difficult, if not impossible, to support them.  In order to get these bills through they attach billions in spending for bills that go to benefit specific members districts or sta...

Shutdown Countdown, Part 4
I've been warning that the GOP may force a government shutdown as early as this month, and it looks like we're headed there pretty quickly. Brian Beutler: Before the midterms, conservative leaders were warning that they'd force a showdown over federal spending much earlier than expected: in the Lame Duck session, before the newly elected Republicans come to Washington. They weren't joking. Republican and Democratic leaders are now engaged in a brinksmanship that could result in a temporary shutd...

Tax Cut Deal Divides Potential 2012 GOP Contenders
From left: Mitt Romney, Mike Pence and John Thune (Credit: CBS) President Obama turned the debate over the extension of the Bush Tax Cuts into a 2012 Campaign issue when he made a deal with Republicans to extend them all for another two years. Several of the president's anticipated GOP challengers have weighed in on the issue, including former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who gave a sharp critique of the plan in an op-ed yesterday. Now two more of the Republican Party's potential presiden...

Tax bill heads to House for hotly-contested vote
Democrats and Republicans will square off in the House on Thursday for a huge vote on President Obama's Tax Cut plan. If passed, the deal would extend the Bush-era tax cuts for all Americans for two years. Also, Unemployment Benefits would be stretched for 13 months and there would be a 2% reduction in Social Security Payroll takes for one year. "I know that not every member of Congress likes every piece of this bill, and it includes some provisions that I oppose," President Obama said on Wedn...

Mike Pence Criticizes Tax Cut Deal (VIDEO)
WASHINGTON — Republican congressman Mike Pence says he won't vote for the massive Tax Cut package coming before the House on Thursday, because he believes it "will do little to create jobs." Pence, the No. 3 House Republican, tells NBC's "Today" it is a "tough call" because no Republican wants to see taxes go up. But he says the package's two-year extension of Bush-era tax cuts, negotiated between President Barack Obama and Senate Republicans, "is not going to create investment." Pence s...