House passes pork-filled appropriations bill – $410 billion

Less than 36 hours after the bill was released to the public, the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009 passed through the U.S. House of Representatives along party lines. 36 hours. Yeah, sure… the public – and even congress – had plenty of time to review 1,122 pages of pork.

Click here to read our previous post with details from the bill.

Let’s be clear about my definition of pork. If you can not find authorization to spend the money in the United States Constitution, it’s pork.

Does CNN currently have the news on their home page? How about CBS News? NBC? ABC?

Nope, gotta get the news from bloggers, Fox News and Yahoo News. Is there a concerted effort to hide these types of appropriation bills and release them to the public about one day before voting on them? Looks to be the case.

The Democratic-controlled House pushed through a $410 billion measure Wednesday that boosted domestic programs, bristled with earmarks and chipped away at policies left behind by the Bush administration.

The vote was 245-178, largely along party lines.

Republicans assailed the measure as too costly — particularly on the heels of a $787 billion stimulus bill that President Barack Obama signed last week. But Democrats jabbed back.

“The same people who drove the economy into the ditch are now complaining about the size of the tow truck,” said Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass., pointing out the large increase in deficits that President George W. Bush and GOP-controlled Congresses amassed.

From the GOP side, Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas said the legislation was “going to grow the government 8.3 percent … but the family budget which has to pay for the federal budget only grew at 1.3 percent last year.”

Hot Air, Gateway Pundit and Malkin are all on it. Of course the spin is that there are no earmarks. Bull feathers.

Up next? How about a $700 billion “reserve” fund for health care provided by the feds over the next ten years.

Posted in

Steve McGough

Steve's a part-time conservative blogger. Steve grew up in Connecticut and has lived in Washington, D.C. and the Bahamas. He resides in Connecticut, where he’s comfortable six months of the year.

3 Comments

  1. Darlene on February 25, 2009 at 3:33 pm

    I just don't get this.  Please someone explain to me.  Is this really what the majority voted for when they voted for Barack Obama?  I mean, I understand the need for change.  And I agree we all need hope.  And, yes, while campaigning Barack Obama said he was going to change the world.  But, am I just crazy, or is this taking it beyond what the American people really want?  And if it is not really what they expected when they voted for Barack Obama, is there anything whatsoever they can do to stop this?  Anything?  Anyone? 



  2. scout9049 on February 26, 2009 at 2:40 am

    Why is AMTRAK getting more money? In addition to what they normally receive, did they not get additional funding in the (un)stimulus package? Now more funds?  And additional money for the NEA? I guess "starving artist" is a thing of the past…



  3. PatRiot on February 26, 2009 at 7:05 am

    Yes this is change !!! At the hands of BOTH parties.  Change from Democracy to Socialism.    Bottom line – I never wanna hear my child say "Dad, I don't like Socialism,   how come you didn't fight to restore our Republic or at least hold onto Democracy."   I'm starting to think hard.   What would Geo. Washington do?  .  At their pace, they must be stopped now, not the next election.  If not with charges of treason by the Senate & House, what will?



The website's content and articles were migrated to a new framework in October 2023. You may see [shortcodes in brackets] that do not make any sense. Please ignore that stuff. We may fix it at some point, but we do not have the time now.

You'll also note comments migrated over may have misplaced question marks and missing spaces. All comments were migrated, but trackbacks may not show.

The site is not broken.