Porkers Thwarted, For Now
The Omnibus Pork Bill [here], a parting gift from the lame ducks, has been shot down by duck hunters outside the Beltway.
Death of a Spending Bill
By JOHN FUND, Online WSJ, Dec 17, 2010 [here]
Why did Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid beat an embarrassing retreat and yank the $1.1 trillion earmark-filled omnibus spending bill off the Senate floor last night?
The decision came despite the alliance that Senate Democrats had formed with old-bull Republicans, such as retiring Utah Senator Robert Bennett, to provide enough votes to overcome the 60-vote threshold to cut off debate. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, feeling the heat from tea party groups, put pressure on his GOP caucus to hold together and block the omnibus. Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina threatened to force a reading of the 1,924 page bill, a chore that would have consumed 50 hours of Senate floor time. … [more]
Exposing the crooks had to have helped. We don’t want all the credit, unless you want to give it to us, in which case we accept with appropriate and characteristic humility.
