Senate Approves Huge Spending Bill After Democrats' Delay

The New York Times ^ | January 22, 2004 | DAVID STOUT

[jgrubbs]

WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 — The Senate gave President Bush and his Republican allies a victory today by approving an $820 billion spending bill covering more than a dozen federal departments and agencies in the fiscal year that began almost four months ago.

The vote was 65 to 28. But that vote was anticlimactic, in a sense, because minutes earlier the chamber had voted, 61-32, to end a delay, or filibuster, that had blocked the measure. The 61 votes were one more than needed to defeat the filibuster.

The bill, approved by the House weeks ago, was a conspicuous item of unfinished Senate business over the holiday recess. On Tuesday, Senate Republicans fell 12 votes short of the 60 needed to block the filibuster, when only 48 senators voted to cut off debate.

"Our desire isn't to kill this bill," Senator Tom Daschle, Democrat of South Dakota, the minority leader, told reporters after the Tuesday vote. "Our desire is to give them a chance to fix it."

Republicans said, in effect, that there was nothing to fix. "We are not changing this bill, period," said Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, the third-ranking Republican in the Senate.

Mr. Daschle conceded after Tuesday's roll call that he did not expect the filibuster to endure and that final passage would come before February. In anticipation of today's vote, a number of Democrats said they had made their point.

Democrats objected to provisions they said will allow the Bush administration to threaten the overtime pay of millions of workers; relax media ownership rules; and delay a requirement that supermarket meat and produce carry labels identifying them by country of origin. The meatpacking industry and the major organization representing cattlemen oppose the labels.

"Take it or leave it," Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, said angrily today in describing the Republicans' attitude. "This is one senator who's going to leave it because of what it will do to working families and women and veterans of this country."

Republicans had said that if Democrats continued to block the $820 billion bill (which includes Social Security and Medicare), then they would push through a resolution financing the affected departments and agencies at last year's levels.

That could have had serious repercussions, not only in the vast federal bureaucracy but for individual lawmakers, many of whom have to run this year.

Line-by-line scrutiny of huge spending bills almost invariably turns up instances of special-interest items, some with civic benefits, virtually all meant to burnish the images of the legislators, Democrats and Republicans alike, with their local constituents.

Three Republican senators, Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado and John S. McCain of Arizona, sided with the Democrats on Tuesday. Mr. McCain had complained that the bill was studded with special-interest, pork-barrel spending. "It's hard to pick the ugliest pig in this sty," he said.

Ugly or not, the bill cleared the Senate this afternoon. Many of the lawmakers have acknowledged that the election season will require much of their attention and energy. And before long, President Bush will send them his proposed budget for the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

[zbigreddogz]

Good ole' Jonny McCain is right about this. Nobody loves Bush more then I do, but he should say something along the lines of "Cut out $10 Billion in pork or I'm vetoing it."

I'm thinking specifically the pork for South Dakota, Washington (my home state), California, Lousiana, etc. (noticing a patern here?)

But heck, I'm an equal opprotunity cutter. They can cut pork from some states with Republican Senators too.

[Pagey]

The link for this stunningly clear 1997 article is here:

http://www.libertyhaven.com/politicsandcurrentevents/constitutionscourtsandlaw/unconstitutional.shtml

[CholeraJoe]

$315,000 Formosan Subterranean Termite research

If you had ever seen the devastation that can be wrought by Formosan Termites, you wouldn't think this is pork. Think killer bees that eat wood. Within 10 years, there won't be any trees left in New Orleans due to these pests.

[God is good]

The rats blaming Bush for big spending is as ridiculous as the rats recently acting hawkish concerning the war on terrorism.

[Pagey]

In 1931 Pork-barrel spending began in earnest...Congress introduced an act to provide flood relief to farmers in six affected states. By the time the bill made its way through Congress, farmers in fifteen states became its beneficiaries. One Oklahoma congressman succinctly summarized the new beggar-thy-neighbor spending ethic that had overtaken Capitol Hill: "I do not believe in this pie business, but 9 we are making a great big pie here ... then I want to cut it into enough pieces so that Oklahoma will have its piece."

Look just how far we have gone, since 1931. That should put the fear of God into everyone,well that and Hillary becoming a Senator of course.

[Naspino]

he = her (ooops)

I kind of liked the idea of everytime "the" was mentioned we get a picture.

[God is good]

You made the list. You the man!!!

[Orangedog]

From what I read on the Senate thread, if you have a college degree, that will now be one of the criteria for classifying someone as exempt from overtime. Is that correct?

[God is good]

$2,000,000 Tools for Tolerance program, California

I really like that one.

[CSM]

Great post!

[jgrubbs]

Bush had better use his veto on this one.

Did you know that President Bush has become the first president since the long-forgotten James Garfield NOT to veto a SINGLE spending bill? That we now have record pork spending and corporate welfare in agriculture, education, Medicare, energy defense, transportation, foreign aid, homeland security, and more.

[God is good]

Well let New Orleans take care of it! 315Gs isn't a big deal. They can do their own budget cuts. Sheesh! Socialism is the norm now.

[wjcsux]

Includes the following pork projects:
I am glad the government isn't wasting any of our money on frivolous stuff.

[plain talk]

Thanks. Didn't see any pork for Alabama. Where's my pork? Only pork we got down here is Johnny Ray's BBQ.

[jgrubbs]

You made the list. You the man!!!

What list?

[CSM]

Why is that a problem that the Fed should throw money into? Is it somehow covered under the commerce clause?

[jgrubbs]

Thanks. Didn't see any pork for Alabama. Where's my pork? Only pork we got down here is Johnny Ray's BBQ. Not sure how this one got left out of the big list: $338,000 for the Alabama Beef Connection

[God is good]

Post 15. lol

[CholeraJoe]

It's a bigger problem than just New Orleans. They've crossed into more than 11 states and that makes it a Federal problem.

Formosan Termites