NYT editorial: Round Up the Usual Prospects

Republican Earmark Hypocrisy [Now WHO Could Have Predicted THIS?]
Who knew that Republicans would abandon their election promises so quickly? This entry was posted in Earmarks, National Politics, US Senate and tagged broken promises, Congress, conservative, earmarks, hypocrisy, John Cornyn, John Thune, politics, republican party, Tea Party. Bookmark the permalink. » Get Skype, call free! ...

GOP senators kill spending bill over $8 billion in earmarks
Reporting from Washington — Republicans on Friday reveled in a victory over Government Spending that showcased their resolve in the fight over the federal purse. By killing a $1.3-trillion spending bill, the GOP extinguished a sheaf of earmarked expenditures and drew in straying GOP colleagues — even those who had inserted the Earmarks and helped write the bill, which would have funded the government through September 2011. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D- Nevada) withdrew th...

Last Call
And here's President Obama's reward for working with the Republicans on that Tax Cut deal. The $858 billion tax deal approved by Congress Thursday is "all candy and no spinach," but at least it shows that President Barack Obama and Republicans can cooperate on fiscal issues. But their new detente will be tested early next year when the Budget Deficit looms larger on the political landscape. Analysts are skeptical this week's pact can be leveraged into a broad deficit-cutting program, and fear th...

MERRY CONGRESS BABY!
It is interesting to see how different traditions of people and countries are broken for the benefit of better establishment. Take for instance Prince William’s decision to exclude President Obama and wife Michelle from his Wedding.  Prince William’s decision to break tradition by not inviting an American president to the royal wedding is a slap in the face of Obama and Michelle.  The American media’s darling royal couple of America has been snubbed by the real royal ...

Democrats race clock, try to save programs
WASHINGTON — Two large defense contracts that would produce up to 900 jobs in Lynn and Pittsfield are in jeopardy after the Senate eliminated a major spending bill loaded with Earmarks this week, sending Massachusetts’ congressional delegation scrambling to get the funding added to another Budget bill before the end of their lame-duck session, which is expected to come next week. The programs — a backup engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and 10 new Navy coastal combat sh...

The Weekend Word: A Senate Saturday
From Today’s Times: - Congressional Republicans took credit on Friday for blocking a $1.2 Trillion measure to fund the Federal Government, while some lawmakers on both sides appeared ready for the lame-duck session to end. The Times’s Carl Hulse recaps a chaotic day on Capitol Hill. - And on to Saturday, when the Senate could take up a measure to Repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell.” The Times’s Jennifer Steinhauer reports that Republicans in the...

The Weekend Word: A Senate Saturday
From Today’s Times: - Congressional Republicans took credit on Friday for blocking a $1.2 Trillion measure to fund the Federal Government, while some lawmakers on both sides appeared ready for the lame-duck session to end. The Times’s Carl Hulse recaps a chaotic day on Capitol Hill. - And on to Saturday, when the Senate could take up a measure to Repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell.” The Times’s Jennifer Steinhauer reports that Republicans in the...

Inouye defends omnibus appropriations bill
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) forcefully defended the abandoned $1.1 Trillion omnibus appropriations bill in a Senate floor Speech Friday evening and argued that opponents of the bill were wrong to say the 2010 Midterm Elections were about ending Earmarks. Inouye's remarks came as the Senate approved a three-day continuing resolution to avert a government shutdown Saturday. The Senate is moving toward approving a two-month CR that would fund the government a...

US tax deal, budget feud set stage for 2011 cuts
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own. To nations suffering Austerity, it must seem as if Washington has gone mad. First, the U.S. Congress fails to agree on a 2011 Budget. Then lawmakers overwhelmingly pass another giant stimulus. But both events actually hint at some chance of more disciplined fiscal action next year. President Barack Obama will quickly sign the $858 billion stimulus/Tax Cut bill that funds Unemployment Benefits for 13 months and...

With big spending bill's demise, is 'earmark' new dirty word on Hill?
Deficit hawks and Watchdog groups see Thursday's demise of an omnibus spending bill in the Senate as a turning point. A critical mass of lawmakers, they say, are committed to an earmark ban. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., holds a copy of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington Thursday. There was no last hurrah for Earmarks - known to supporters as “congressionally mandated spending,” and to critics a...

A $48 billion earmark? No, but who needs pesky facts
WASHINGTON — Imagine a $48 billion congressional earmark. That's billion, not million. Even if it were $48 million, it would still be a pretty sizable chunk of Taxpayer money for some special project. But $48 billion for one earmark is three times the cost of all of the congressional Earmarks in the 2010 Budget. It would be the biggest earmark of all time. What member of Congress would test the limits of a very cranky public, down on Washington, down on spending and that just last m...

Congress votes to extend government funding
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congress gave final approval on Friday to extending government funding through Tuesday to avoid a shutdown after lawmakers failed to agree on a long-term solution to a stark partisan divide overspending. The measure would pay for government operations beyond Saturday night, when current funding expires. But it merely postpones a fight over spending that is expected to loom large next year, when Republicans will wield greater clout in Washington. Lawmakers have failed to pa...

Open Thread
If Americans could do the math, they would quickly understand that the bill for the two wars is now creeping up to $10 Trillion. In order to achieve the chimeric goals of the neocons of an ever lasting global American empire money had to be borrowed. Currently, for every dollar spent by the Federal Government 40 cents is borrowed. America used to borrow mainly from Japan and Europe, but now does its main borrowing from China. In a striking reversal of fortune, the “poor man of Asia” ...

Weekly Roundup - Dec. 18
Wall Street Journal - ObamaCare loses int he courts. Michigan View - Corporate welfare is Democrat-approved subsidies for the rich. MSNBC - The Senate is forced to drop the $1.3 Trillion omnibus spending bill. Reason - America's waiters and cashiers are over-educated. Washington Examiner - The 'political class' and Middle America are headed in the opposite direction. Wall Street Journal - The FDA is revoking approval of a Breast Cancer drug. National Review - Public Employee Unions are "the ene...

Right-wing Media Continue To Cheer For Government Shutdown
BOLLING: Bingo. MACCALLUM: -- Special Interests and people who end up -- guess what -- making campaign donations down the line/ BOLLING: Bingo. MACCALLUM: So that everybody's trying to keep somebody happy out there. You know, so what if the government stops operating for a little while. BOLLING: Great. MACCALLUM: Is that the end of the world? BOLLING: Bingo. Right idea. In fact, I have Michelle Bachmann on the show tonight, and I think she's in favor of saying, you know what? I'm not gonna sig...

Earmarks foul body politic
Earmarks are perfectly fine if they go to a nice enough project, says Rep. Barney Frank (D-Newton), who helped bring us the worst Financial Crisis since the Great Depression because he also thought subprime Mortgages were fine. I don’t believe this man has ever been right on anything. Think of him as a kind of reverse thermometer. When he says it’s hot, it’s cold. And when he smiles on earmarks, you ought to frown. These devices for localized gift giving came within a whisker ...

Murray No. 5 in earmarks; Cantwell is No. 50
WASHINGTON -- The Republicans scuttled the $1.2 Trillion federal spending bill late Thursday night, in part because they objected to the inclusion of some $8.3 billion worth of congressional pet projects called Earmarks. Yet it's still worth noting that Sen. Patty Murray had the fifth-highest earmark total out of 89 senators, according to an on-going analysis by Taxpayer for Common Sense. Murray had 201 earmarks totaling nearly $249 million. Washington's junior senator, Maria Cantwell, ranked ...

Session Suddenly Not So Lame
It's increasingly apparent that the Congress which hadn't gotten a whole lot done since the enactment of health reform Legislation may well go out with a flurry of genuinely significant activity. The tax deal cleared Congress last night, even as the Senate killed an omnibus appropriations bill leaving most Discretionary Spending decisions to the next session. And it looks like the Repeal of DADT is back on track for a stand-alone vote. Prospects for ratification of START are less robust, but t...

Team America : The Tea Party and CNN
Posted by JM Ashby Are you shitting me? CNN announced Friday that it has teamed up with the Tea Party Express to host what it is calling a "first-of-its-kind Tea Party presidential primary debate" in September 2011. The Republican debate will be held during the Labor Day week in Tampa, Florida. In a statement, CNN said the debate will place special emphasis on issues that the Tea Party has been "vocal in advocating," including less Government Spending, lower taxes and a smaller Deficit. I am ...

CNN and Tea Party to Sponsor Debate
Politico reports: CNN, which has heavily promoted its nonpartisan brand through the midterm season, is jumping into the 2012 GOP primary debate fray with a bold move: teaming up with the Tea Party Express. The debate will take place during Labor Day week next year in Tampa, the site of the 2012 Republican National Convention, and will focus on The Economy and the signature tea party issue of Government Spending. Full memo after the jump. CNN and Tea Party Express Join Forces for Presidential P...

CNN and Tea Party Express to host first-of-its-kind Tea Party presidential primary debate
from CNN Washington (CNN) - CNN is teaming up with the Tea Party Express for a first-of-its-kind presidential primary debate, both organizations announced Friday. The Tea Party debate, featuring 2012 Republican Presidential Candidates, is scheduled for Labor Day week 2011. It will take place in Tampa, Florida - the site of the 2012 Republican National Convention. Since the spring of 2009, the Tea Party movement has been increasingly vocal in advocating for less Government Spending, lower t...

Opposition won’t have reason to vote down budget, Harper says
Last updated Friday, Dec. 17, 2010 7:01PM EST Stephen Harper insists he’s got no appetite for an election and is promising the 2011 Budget will be free of “draconian cuts”– the kind of measures that might give opposition parties a concrete reason to defeat the Conservatives. In a year-end interview with CTV, the Prime Minister said he plans a small cabinet shuffle in January, but has no intention of taking steps to trigger an election after more than two years since the l...

Tea Party Kills $1 Trillion Bill But Dont Rest Yet
Ben Johnson, FloydReports.com Both Republicans and Democrats agree on one thing: The Tea Party deserves credit for killing the Democrats’ $1.27 Trillion spendfest and power grab. After realizing he lacked enough Republican or Democratic votes, Harry Reid withdrew the bill last night. As tempted as Conservatives may be to pat themselves on the back and celebrate more important things, like Christmas, we must not rest. Congressional liberals have one last assault on liberty planned for thi...

Congress throws a tea party
Overall, a pretty good day for those who believe in low taxes and less spending. Here is the money graph from my upcoming Reuters Breakingviews column: Democrats and Republicans in Congress are gridlocked over the $1.1 Trillion 2011 Budget. So they will likely pass a temporary spending measure to keep the government running for another month or two. This creates a situation next year where incoming Tea Party Republicans can a) combine a threat of government shutdown with b) a refusal to raise t...

Obama signs tax-cut legislation
President Obama on Friday signed the bill that extends the George W. Bush-era Tax Cuts, while Congress moved to wind up its lame-duck deliberations in a session marked by the changing nature of politics and power. Speaking at the signing ceremony, Obama again defended his Compromise, worked out with Republicans. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was prominent at the ceremony, as was Vice President Joe Biden, who bargained with the Republican leader "This is real money that is going to mak...