Free Republic

For a member of Congress to accuse his party leaders of lying to him, and for their aides to return the favor, is about as rare as the drama that surrounded last week’s procedural vote — a vote that led to the passage of the $1.1 trillion spending bill.

enate Majority Leader Harry Reid is keeping senators in Washington for a rare Saturday session—and risking a government shutdown—after he went to extraordinary lengths to block Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) from forcing a vote to block President Barack Obama’s executive amnesty.

Defying his party's leadership, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz upended plans for smooth passage of a $1.1-trillion spending bill, forcing a rare Saturday session as Congress braces to prevent a new threatened government shutdown.. Cruz launched the Senate into turmoil as he tried to use the government shutdown as leverage to stop President Obama's immigration plans. Now, Congress faces a midnight Saturday deadline to keep federal operations running. Senators were streaming into the Capitol on a sunny winter Saturday for a series of procedural votes, with many not happy about the situation. "I remind everyone, 12 o'clock midnight, 12 a.m., the...

WASHINGTON – Republican aren’t mincing words about some in their own party as the political divide grows and the deadline to pass a spending bill nears. Heading into a rare Saturday session, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told Fox News he was surprised that GOP Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah went over his head Friday night and help up a vote on the $1.1 trillion spending bill. A senior GOP source lashed out at Cruz and Lee, calling the move “hamfisted” and “amateurish.” Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid told reporters that he was surprised by...

As the vote on the Rule to bring the $1 trillion-plus funding bill to the floor of the US House of Representatives was about to start yesterday, I and many of my fellow conservatives were still burning up the phone lines to Republicans, saying “NO”! This is a paraphrase of the way one of my calls went: Congressional Office: This is Congressman Robert Wittman’s Office. Me: Hello, I’m not from your district, but I am active in Republican precinct work and have been a contributor to Republican candidates in several states. I would appreciate it if you would give my...

Representative Louie Gohmert (R-TX) said that conservatives in the House heard "not one word" from House GOP leadership on compromises to make changes to the cromnibus in order to get conservatives to vote for it even though "we were willing to work with them to compromise" on Thursday's "Hannity" on the Fox News Channel. "There was no encouragement to conservatives. The Speaker and Majority Leader, these folks knew there's money for abortion, money for the EPA to hurt states like Texas, Arizona. There's just all kinds of money in there for things we don't support. and, Sean, you and I...

WASHINGTON – Republican Sens. Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, and Jeff Sessions are pushing for a vote to defund President Obama’s executive amnesty in the “Cromnibus” spending bill Friday night, The Daily Caller has learned. The trio of conservative senators is hoping to get the defund vote onto the Senate floor as a “point of order,” which would force a procedural vote on the issue without Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid having to introduce it. The senators are pushing hard on Capitol Hill for the measure as of early Friday afternoon. If successful, the vote would take place late Friday...

Democrats and Republicans alike are protecting the power structure at all costs, even if it means voting against their platform, and against the United States Constitution they took an oath to protect and defend. Sixty-seven Republicans chose to vote against the $1.1 trillion CR-Omnibus budget bill on December 11, 2014. Despite the refusal of the more conservative Republicans to support the bill, the Republican establishment was able to pull in enough Democrats, 57, to vote for the bill. The bill passed 219 to 206, and the voters that gave the Republican Party a majority going into 2015 saw their leverage...

Last night, lawmakers released the massive, 1,603-page, $1.1 trillion spending bill that will fund the government for the coming year. Here are a few things Heritage experts have learned about the “cromnibus." The bill: Funds most of the federal government through September 30, 2015 while extending funding for the Department of Homeland Security until February 27, 2015. Does not block funding for President Obama’s amnesty. Makes only minor tweaks to Obamacare, but leaves the big-government health program otherwise intact. Continues the education spending spree, and in fact increases spending on K-12 and higher education.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the House Republican Conference Chairman, said today in response to the question of whether she would vote for a CR that funds Obama’s unilateral amnesty for illegal aliens that “we are looking at every option to hold the president accountable.” Yesterday, the Republican leadership of which McMorris Rodgers is a part, released a 1,603-page omnibus spending bill that places no restrictions on Obama’s implementation of his amnesty. The bill would fund most of the government through the end of this fiscal year on Sept. 30 and the Department of Homeland Security through Feb. 27. …

Rev. Senator Harry Reid famously said before the Bush surge in Iraq, "This war is lost." It wasn't. But you could take one look at his face Thursday night, the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party that signifies the American revolt against Great Britain. Reid's expression said as plain as day that the Democrats' old stock in trade, class war, is lost -- at least for now. First to fall was the Omnibus Bill, the reason for Reid's downcast visage. It was, tweeted internet wit Iowahawk, a "Turporducken." "Pork, inside a lame duck, baked inside a gigantic turd." If you...

Anh "Joseph" Cao was born in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam. His father, an officer with the South Vietnamese Army, was imprisoned by the Communists. At the age of eight, Joseph escaped to America with two of his siblings. He learned English, thrived in school, and earned a physics degree from Baylor University before he began studying for the priesthood. Joseph first arrived in New Orleans in 1992. He left to earn a Master's degree in philosophy from New York's Fordham University, returning to Loyola University to teach philosophy and ethics. As he prepared for priesthood, his faith...

Kansas City, Missouri - The maturing Tea Party Protest Movement claimed its first victory this week when Senator Claire McCaskill, D, Missouri, voted against the Omnibus Spending Bill. McCaskill cited her opposition to earmarks in opposing the bill’s passage. “Evidently we made our point,” Kansas City Tea Party organizer Robert Ballard said of McCaskill’s defection from the democratic party line in the Senate. “We applaud McCaskill for recognizing the deep level of discontent in this country that’s being driven by President Obama’s desire to reshape America with an agenda we believe moves America toward a socialist society. We’re counting on...

When Obama signs this bloated piece of legislation as he is expected to do, he will be putting another nail in our nation’s economic coffin, breaking his much professed campaign promises of NO EARMARKS - “And when I’m president, I will go line by line to make sure that we are not spending money unwisely.”

Termite research, walrus rehabilitation and pig manure are among the more than 8,570 of earmarks in the omnibus spending package currently before the Senate. Critics charge the bill is stuffed full of so many pork barrel projects -- $7.7 billion worth -- that President Barack Obama should veto it. Perhaps the most controversial is a direct earmark for a Hispanic civil-rights group -- the National Council of La Raza -- worth $950,000. The group has been a lighting rod of controversy since it helped organize large protests in 2006 aimed at derailing efforts by conservative congressional Republicans to enforce U.S....

Nancy Pelosi is acting like a junkie who gets caught. " Please, she is crying, just one more hit and I will go into rehab tomorrow." In her case it is a promise to president Obama that after this Omnibus bill she promises to sit down with the president and work on ending earmarks. “After we get through the omnibus . . . then we can work with the administration to see what else we can do. But the idea is lower number, more transparency, total accountability,” Gee Ms Pelosi, why AFTER? If you believe in fewer earmarks and more...

In a recent Wall Street Journal Opinion Editorial titled, “Deficits and Fiscal Credibility,“, Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) presented his reasons for advocating a “No” vote on the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009. Senator Bayh asserted, “Our nation’s current fiscal imbalance is unprecedented, unsustainable and, if unaddressed, a major threat to our currency and our economic vitality. The national debt now exceeds $10 trillion. This is almost double what it was just eight years ago, and the debt is growing at a rate of about $1 million a minute.” He went on to state, “The bloated omnibus requires sacrifice from no...

Taxpayers for Common Sense says the bill contains 8,570 earmarks at a cost of $7.7 billion. An estimated 60% of the earmarks are from Democrats, while Republicans requested the remaining 40%. Americans are facing an economic crisis that is bordering on the verge of becoming a depression, thus, with 60% of the earmarks coming from Democrats and 40% from Republicans, is there really a difference between these two parties anymore? Obama said ” I am proud we have passed a recovery plan free of earmarks.” REALLY?

As the Senate completes its work on the $410 Billion Dollar Omnibus Bill with over 8,000 earmarked projects, it is important to note who the biggest porkers in the Senate are. The list below shows top 20 Senate Omnibus Bill Porkers. Right on top is Senator Robert Byrd, who when the bill was originally written was chairman of the Appropriations Committee. Other large porkers are Dianne Feinstein of California and Tom Harkin of Iowa. What is particularly disturbing is that 8 of the Top 20 were Republicans, and that Mitch McConnell was so high up on the list. Come on...

Double-Dip Spending DOUBLE-DIP 122 Federal Accounts Double-Dip From Both Stimulus And Omnibus, Spending Billions More Than Budgeted   SEN. MITCH McCONNELL: “Back in January, I suggested to the Democratic leadership that we take up the omnibus appropriation bill first. And I did that because I wanted to make sure that we were not engaged in duplicate spending when we finally went to the stimulus.” (Sen. Mitch McConnell, Press Conference, 02/24/09)   122 STIMULUS FUNDED ACCOUNTS ALSO FUNDED IN OMNIBUS BILL EXTRA MONEY FOR ARTS ENDOWMENT  DIP:               $50 Million in Stimulus: “For an additional amount for `Grants and Administration', $50,000,000 to be distributed...