The tea party’s influence is waning
By Dana Milbank, WashPost, Friday, January 17, 11:13 AM
Read the bill!
It was a rallying cry of the tea party in 2010 and of Republicans bitter about a 906-page health care law that few proponents had read. Republicans made a “read the bill” pledge and vowed that they would put the text of bills online at least 72 hours before votes.
A very different Republican Party rushed a massive spending bill through the House Wednesday, just 44 hours after it was posted. The bill was 1,582 pages and accompanying explanatory statements added another 1,278, which means lawmakers had less than a minute to read each page, even if they didn’t sleep.
This was an ugly and gargantuan spending bill, cutting vital programs while sending goodies to well-connected industries. And yet there was some good news in the swift and easy passage through the House, followed quickly by the Senate. It means business as usual is returning to the Capitol.
There’s nothing to love about Washington’s business as usual, in which lawmakers on both sides do the bidding of the powerful. Yet even this is better than the endless crises and constant brinkmanship of the last three years. The spending bill also offers another sign that the tea party activists and affiliated organizations are losing their hold on Republicans.
(More here.)
Read the bill!
It was a rallying cry of the tea party in 2010 and of Republicans bitter about a 906-page health care law that few proponents had read. Republicans made a “read the bill” pledge and vowed that they would put the text of bills online at least 72 hours before votes.
A very different Republican Party rushed a massive spending bill through the House Wednesday, just 44 hours after it was posted. The bill was 1,582 pages and accompanying explanatory statements added another 1,278, which means lawmakers had less than a minute to read each page, even if they didn’t sleep.
This was an ugly and gargantuan spending bill, cutting vital programs while sending goodies to well-connected industries. And yet there was some good news in the swift and easy passage through the House, followed quickly by the Senate. It means business as usual is returning to the Capitol.
There’s nothing to love about Washington’s business as usual, in which lawmakers on both sides do the bidding of the powerful. Yet even this is better than the endless crises and constant brinkmanship of the last three years. The spending bill also offers another sign that the tea party activists and affiliated organizations are losing their hold on Republicans.
(More here.)
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1 Comments:
Hmmm ... "by a vote of 166 to 64, House Republicans" voted for the spending bill ... so what reasons were offered by the 64 who rejected the spending ???
My favorite is
WASHINGTON—Rep. Scott Tipton voted against consolidated appropriations legislation in the House that excluded funding for the Payment-in-Lieu-of-Taxes (PILT) program
The press release goes on to explain
“The loss of PILT funds would be devastating for many counties in my district.
Colorado received nearly $32 million in PILT payments in 2013, with just over $21 million going to counties in the 3rd District.
I will continue to work with my Western colleagues to restore funding for PILT as quickly as possible, and provide our counties with the certainty needed to plan their budgets and serve their communities.
Yes, Scott Tipton is a TEA Partier.
Unheralded in votes thus far this session is :
#HR1513, which revises the boundaries of the Gettysburg National Military Park to include the Gettysburg Train Station.
#HR3527, which reauthorizes some federal poison control activities -- the new bill authorizes $ 30.1 million per year ...
promoting the obvious question ... what was the previous spending authorization ?
The Congress appropriated about $19 million for the program for fiscal year 2013. Sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011 reduced the 2013 funding to about $18 million. That reduced funding level has been continued in fiscal year 2014.
IF Washington truly has a spending problem, why are we expanding federal parks and increasing funding for Poison Control ?
It makes you wonder how many people called WV Poison Control after smelling "licorice" in their drinking water versus 9-1-1 ?
Wouldn't most people call 911 ... just eliminating the Poison Control toll free number would save the taxpayers $1.5 million a year.
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