Massive Land Grab Stuffed Into Omnibus Spending Bill

Senate Dem leader drops nearly $1.3T spending bill
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., pauses during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010. After wrestling with — and finally abandoning — a 1,900-page catchall spending bill stuffed with more than $8 billion in home-state projects known as Earmarks in Washington and pork in the rest of the country, Senate leaders turned Friday to devising a measure to keep the federal government running into early next year. Nearly $1.3 Trillion in unfinished...

Reid waves the white flag on omnibus, GOP will set spending for fiscal 2011
Democrats' $1.1 Trillion omnibus is officially dead after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pulled it from the calendar and raised the white flag of surrender. We seemed headed toward a showdown in which Democrats would have tried to fund the government through September, one way or another. Instead, Reid has signaled that he will agree to a two-month continuing resolution, which will give the new GOP House its first crack at Spending Cuts. Reid pulled the spending bill from the Senate floor aft...

In a Victory for Earmark Opponents, Dems Drop Their Trillion-Dollar Omnibus Spending Bill
Friday, December 17, 2010 By Patrick Goodenough Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell holds up the 1,924-page omnibus spending bill on the Senate floor on Thursday night. (Screenshot: C-SPAN) (CNSNews.com) - Senate Democrats Thursday evening withdrew an earmark-laden omnibus spending bill, agreeing instead to work on a short-term, stop-gap funding bill - a “continuing resolution” - to keep the Federal Government running beyond midnight Saturday. Earlier, Secretary of

Senate Dem leader drops nearly $1.3T spending bill
WASHINGTON — After wrestling with — and finally abandoning — a 1,900-page catch-all spending bill stuffed with more than $8 billion in home-state projects known as Earmarks in Washington and pork in the rest of the country, Senate leaders need to come up with a measure to keep the Federal Government running into early next year. Nearly $1.3 Trillion in unfinished Budget work was packed into the spending measure, including $158 billion for Military operations in Iraq and A...

Video of John Kerry: "Why would we have to read" 1,924 page, $1.1 trillion Omnibus bill before voting on it? Implies it's a tota
UPDATE: Found one on YouTube as well: Yeah - why read anything anymore before voting on it? (click on pic for vid) Uh - you read it because IT'S YOUR JOB!!! The way this monstrosity is being rammed through is the same way the stimulus was rammed through: Kerry is taking a page from Conyers, who also fancies himself not doing his job: And from CNS News: Senator: 'There's No Way You Can Really Thoroughly Master' Entire Spending Bill Before Vote UPDATE: Speaking of the Omnibus bill: Michelle Malki...

At least someone will have read it: GOP to 'paralyze' Senate by reading the disastrous 2,000-page, trillion-plus spending bill
The left-leaning political journal The Hill makes the tactic sound, oh, I don't know... dire? Their headline reads, "GOP will paralyze Senate floor with reading of 1,924-page spending bill". Hey, schmucks: is it really too much to ask that our representatives read the damn bills before they vote on them? I will assert the following: the 111th Congress will go down in history as the most rabid, radical and destructive enemies of the state ever to assume power in America. Republicans will paraly...

GOP opposition forces Democrats to pull $1.1 trillion spending bill from floor
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was forced to pull the $1.1 Trillion omnibus bill that would fund the government for next year on Thursday after it became clear he would not have the votes to pass it. The Senate was set to begin considering the bill Thursday with expected passage over the weekend, but nine Senate Republicans who said they would support the bill withdrew their support at the last moment because of pressure from their GOP colleagues. Before they changed their position on the bil...

Reid Pulls Trillion Dollar Spending Bill...Dems in Chaos
Democrats controlling the Senate have abandoned a 1,924-page catchall spending measure that's laced with homestate pet projects known as Earmarks and that would have provided another $158 billion for Military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nevada Democrat Harry Reid gave up on the nearly $1.3 Trillion bill after several Republicans who had been thinking of voting for the bill pulled back their support....

POLITICAL HOT TOPICS: Friday, December 17, 2010
The CNN Washington Bureau’s morning speed read of the top stories making news from around the country and the world. Click on the headlines for more. The House of Representatives gave final approval late Thursday night to the $858 billion tax deal negotiated by the White House and top Senate Republicans, sending it to President Barack Obama to be signed into law. After a day of legislative wrangling that delayed consideration of the measure for several hours, the final vote of 277-148 had...

And Now You Can Pat Yourself On The Back
The Omnibus bill was pulled last night by Harry Reid after several Republicans who were considering voting for it reversed course. The Omnibus bill was defeated because of you and millions of others like you who let their voices be heard on the Internet, radio airwaves, through emails and phone calls, and most of all, at the voting booth in November. Your efforts not only influenced Republicans in the Senate, but also Democrats who are up for Reelection in 2012. I had Reid wrong. I thought that...

Omnibust
Senate Democrats abruptly abandoned an omnibus Budget bill for the coming year, pushing major spending decisions into the next Congress and giving Republicans immense new leverage to confront President Barack Obama priorities. The decision Thursday night sweeps away months of Bipartisan work by the Senate Appropriations Committee which had crafted the $1.1 Trillion bill to meet spending targets embraced by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) himself prior to the Elections. Sen. Robert Bennet...

Senate Dem leader drops nearly $1.3T spending bill
WASHINGTON -- After wrestling with - and finally abandoning - a 1,900-page catchall spending bill stuffed with more than $8 billion in home-state projects known as Earmarks in Washington and pork in the rest of the country, Senate leaders turned Friday to devising a measure to keep the Federal Government running into early next year. Nearly $1.3 Trillion in unfinished Budget work needed to keep the government running was packed into the spending measure, including $158 billion for Military op...

South Dakota Continues Record Unemployment Streak, Despite Tick Up to 4.5 Percent
The Mount Rushmore State has now gone more than 27 years without eclipsing the 5 percent jobless mark - best in the nation The South Dakota Department of Labor announced the state's seasonally adjusted Unemployment Rate increased slightly last month - up from 4.4 in October to 4.5 percent in November. While the job markets of both South and North Dakota are well-known to have been least hit by the current Recession, the Mount Rushmore State's healthy employment trend dates back decades. A Sma...

Lame-duck watch: House tax deal vote approaches
We’re about one hour from the House tax deal vote. It’s the usual parade of class-warfare demagogues. Drinking game buzz words: Wealthy. Millionaires and Billionaires. Hostages. Rich, richer, Richest. Social Security. Via Allahpundit, a rundown of possible votes tonight: Robert Costa at NRO has a status report. Remember, Pelosi screwed up earlier this afternoon by agreeing to let an amendment on the Estate Tax provisions come to the floor via a procedural rule that would have deem...

Lame-duck all-nighter watch: Open thread; Update: Reid relents, omniporkulus is dead
If you’re a NORMAL, outside-the-Beltway American, you are up to your eyeballs in Christmas travel or family hosting plans, cookie baking, school and church activities, etc. etc. etc. In the grand tradition of manufactured crisis, the politicians in Washington are exploiting your preoccupation with other things to do their dirty deeds. Some stalwarts in both the House and Senate are on guard duty tonight. Sen. Jim DeMint is planning to read the full omnibus spending bill tonight. At thi...

Ding Dong the 1,924 Page Omnibus Spending Bill Is Dead Harry Reid Pulls Bill
V IS FOR VICTORY … VICTORY FOR WE THE PEOPLE!!! America, tonight you just witnessed the power of the people and the aftermath of the political Tsunami and avalanche of the 2010 Midterm Election. Elections have consequences. Democrats and those Republicans who did not quite get the message, finally did over the last couple days as WE THE PEOPLE made their outraged voices heard and along with Senators Jim DeMint, Mitch McConnell and John McCain … Reid’s bill is toast. As state...

Lame duck Senate spending bill includes a $48 billion earmark
   I have previously written about the latest $1 Trillion, 2,000 page, earmark laden omnibus spending bill that was proposed in the Senate here. There are over 6,000 Earmarks in this spending bill, but there is one earmark in particular that takes the cake.  Lamar Mickens of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri has introduced an earmark in this spending bill of $48 billion that is designed to divert money to the inner cities. ...

On WISCONSIN! New GOP Governor Wins Lame Duck Jailbird Session
Wisconsin Governor-to-be Scott Walker is new GOP ROCK STAR! What has just happened in Wisconsin shows how desperately Democrats and big Labor are to hold onto to your wallet and their power.  This is a fight for the future of our country, our Constitution and the truth.  Guess what? Wisconsin voters performed a Tea Party transformation in November, flipping from deep blue to deep red.  Part of that GOP team is Republican governor hero…..(who is Chris Christie-like)R...

The Tea Party Troubadours
A Tea Party Patriots rally on Nov. 2 (AP/Ann Heisenfelt) At 7 P.M. on election night, around 50 people milled about a ballroom on the lower level of Capitol Hill's Hyatt Regency hotel, waiting for a party hosted by the Tea Party Patriots to really get started. Most guests loaded up their plates at a buffet filled with upscale versions of football-stadium food: hot wings, baked brie, multi-colored tortillas covered in nacho cheese, and sliders with optional fixings. In lieu of Earl Grey, they s...

Michelle Malkin Reveals Democrats Massive Lame Duck Land Grab (Video)
“In the waning few days of the 111th Congress, the Democrats seem obsessed with forcing - just as they forced ObamaCare down our unwilling throats - one monstrosity after another upon us… Permit me to state the obvious: These congressional leaders have nothing but contempt for you, for the Constitution and for common sense. They’re drunk on power, and they live for self-aggrandizement and personal enrichment. One might ask, how do they sleep at night? Their conscien...

McCain Blasts Omnibus Bill: "I'm Saying To All The Tea Partiers, Grab Your Pitchforks, Let's Stand up Against This, It Can Be St
McCain on Fox And Friends this morning thehill John McCain said that Tea Party Activists who helped the GOP make large inroads on Democrats are "enraged" about the $1.1 Trillion measure to fund the government that contains nearly $8 billion in Earmarks. "They gave us a second chance last November ... And if we Republicans allow this thing to go through, then I'm not sure they're going to give us another chance," McCain said during an interview with Fox News's Sean Hannity. McCain's comments p...

Senator Coburn Lists Every Bit of Pork In New Omnibus Spending Bill
Drew just mentioned this, and Bennett (Appropriator, UT) attempting to get all the sweet sweet pork he can before leaving office. Coburn's database has all the pork for your inspection. Here are two that Slublog has called out so far: $500,000: Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, Boston, MA, for educational program development, including an endowment Requested by Marky in the House and Kerry in the Senate. From Debbie Stabenow: $800,000:Crim Fitness Foundation, Flint, MI ...

Reid Drops Omnibus Spending Bill
Politico reports: Senate Democrats abruptly abandoned an omnibus Budget bill for the coming year, pushing major spending decisions into the next Congress and giving Republicans immense new leverage to confront President Barack Obama priorities. The decision Thursday night sweeps away months of Bipartisan work by the Senate Appropriations Committee which had crafted the $1.1 Trillion bill to meet spending targets embraced by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R—Ky.) himself prior to the electio...

Harry Reid Drops Nearly $1.3T Omnibus Spending Bill
Included $8 billion in Earmarks... Associated Press WASHINGTON - Democrats controlling the Senate abandoned on Thursday a huge catchall spending measure combining nearly $1.3 Trillion worth of unfinished Budget work, including another $158 billion for Military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan . The 1,924-page bill collapsed of its own weight after an outcry from Conservatives who complained it was stuffed with more than $8 billion in homestate pet projects known as earmarks and wrapped...

Tea Party Era Begins With Refusal To Debate 'Omnibus' Spending Bill
WASHINGTON -- The new, more Republican Congress won't arrive in town until next month, but the Tea Party Era unofficially began on the Hill Thursday night. Republican leaders in Congress, blindsided by Grassroots fury over the Tax Cut deal they made with President Obama, are now scrambling to show their allegiance to the anti-federal, anti-debt movement. The GOP brass, led by Senate Party Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), did so tonight by eagerly backing the successful efforts of Tea Party favo...