Washington — Senate Republican leaders have lashed out at the 1,924-page omnibus spending bill introduced today, and chided Majority Leader Harry Reid’s announcement that the Senate would stay in session “no matter how long it takes” to address the remainder of the Democratic agenda.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) called the bill “inappropriate” and said the situation was “eerily reminiscent of last year,” when Democrats introduced a 2,700-page bill spending late in the session that few members had seen, much less had time to review. “This is exactly what the American people said on November 2 they did not want us to do,” he said. “This bill should not go forward.”
McConnell said there was broad consensus among Senate Republicans in opposition to both the omnibus package and a smaller continuing resolution (CR) that would fund the government through the end of 2011. He said he favored a short-term CR that would fund the government “probably till next February,” allowing the new Congress to proceed from there.
On the tax deal, which could see an up-or-down vote in the Senate sometime this evening, McConnell warned members of the House against trying to amend the current package. “This agreement is not subject to being reopened,” he said, adding: “I hope our friends in the House understand that the best way to go forward is to pass the Senate bill.”
Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R., Ariz.) referenced the words of retiring Sen. Judd Gregg (R., N.H.), who in his final speech on the floor earlier today spoke reverently of the Senate as a “great deliberative body.” Kyl said it would be “simply impossible” for the Senate to address everything on Reid’s agenda “without disrespecting the institution, and without disrespecting the [Christmas holiday].”
Don't complain to us Mitch. None of what the Democrats want can see the light of day, without your RINO caucus going off the reservation yet again. So, maybe you should start twisting some arms.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseMcConnell called the bill “inappropriate”? I know he's a Senator and I'm all for decorum and everything, but what the (D) party has been doing to the country is way beyond inappropriate.
I am so fed up with milquetoast (R) personalities but, even more, their action and/or lack of it. Will it change next session? I seriously do not know. Isn't that awesome?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI can see no reason for any Republican Senator to go along with the Democrats efforts to pass massive amounts of legislation as they head out the door. That applies to the Native Hawaiian act, the spending bill, the DREAM Act, the START treaty, and everything else. In another month Republicans will be able to either kill these things or at least shape them in ways more to their satisfaction.
Obviously there are a number of "Republican" senators who would much prefer to make a deal now with the Democrats than to wait for a Republican House to take over. Among them is John McCain, endorsed in his primary fight by National Review.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseCan't they require the actual reading of the bill on the floor? Seems like it would be a good idea to require this for ALL bills in the lame duck just to minimize the number they can try pushing through.
Actually, that sounds like a good idea for ANY bill over 150 pages. That and a few quorum calls to keep folks in their seats and you might get these folks focused on bills that are short, focused on one topic and understandable.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseA cursory look through this omnibus bill shows many departments being funded through 2012 and 2013, including the EPA and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Is that usual or part of the con?
Agree with all the previous posters. Suggestions that doing away with the ability to pass anything at all would seem to have merit.
Just adjourn after the general and mid-term elections to make sure the new house and senate members have time to really 'get' what their electors desire.
There has to be a way to neuter this outrageous ability to disrespect voter wishes; if there isn't, create one.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI am complete fed up with Republican leadeship in Washington. They say that such and such is inappropriate but they are cowards. Democrats are willing to start a street fight to get what they want. Republicans just walk away and let the thugs prevail.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseMyKu:
Omnibus Word Cloud.
Are these two thousand pages
a worthless picture?
----------------
It took a while to format the document from the original 2000 page PDF, but here is a "Word Cloud" based upon the 2010 U.S. Senate Omnibus Appropriations Bill:
External Link
Yes, the site let me paste the whole dang thing. Crazy. :)
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThat word cloud site is case sensitive. To give it better results, I converted it to all lower case (so "Secretary" gets lumped in with "secretary", etc...).
Final shot at it is here:
External Link
:)
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseError alert: McConnell is the Minority Leader, not the Senate Majority Leader.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThanks Order66, cool.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseDid you see how small the word 'control' is?!
I just spent a few minutes actually analyzing the Word Cloud I had randomly generated (the second one External Link
).
Funny stuff.
Under the second "s" in the GIANT "expenses" is a tiny "cost".
Within the GIANT world "provided" are embedded the words "division" and "within". (Wild!)
The words "available" and "funds" are dominant. Hmmmm...
The words "exceed", "federal", and "authority" all appear eerily close together.
There's probably more stuff in there, but I'm beat.
Groovy. :)
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse@Penny RE: "Did you see how small the word 'control' is?!"
Good call. :)
Maybe what's *NOT* in there is actually more alarming. :)
Searched for while to see if I could find "justified" or "oversight", for instance. No dice.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseOrder66,
Best item I noticed was the small word 'appropriate' embedded in the giant 'available'
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSeems like it would be a good idea to require a complete reading of EVERY bill passed by the senate, with full attendance required for the entire thing.
It seems odd to me that we even have bills that are longer than the complete US Constitution including the Bill of Rights.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse