News from the Swamp: Spending battles

The Patriot Post

On the Hill: The Democrats may control Congress, but they are no closer to seeing their spending goals realized than when they were in the minority two years ago. Misplaced legislative priorities and poor political judgment have put them in the position of having to pass 11 of the 12 annual appropriations bills in one giant $522-billion omnibus package before calling it quits for the holidays or risk shutting down the government for lack of funds. Speaker Pelosi plans a vote Tuesday before the stopgap funding expires next Friday.

Those of us with good memories recall how the Democrats mocked the Republicans for not being able to pass all of the fiscal 2007 budget bills last year. We also remember how the Demos took over Congress with the promise of fiscal responsibility and timeliness. Neither of those promises has been kept. President George W. Bush has threatened to veto the omnibus bill, which is $18 billion over the White House’s budget request. House and Senate Democrats, who are now pointing fingers at each other, have acquiesced to the overall limit of $933 billion for non-defense discretionary spending.

Playing politics with desperately needed war funding and attempts to give away gobs of money to their supporters in the form of social-welfare programs have put the Democrats in a difficult situation. Their leadership surely must realize that their attempts to defund the war will not happen while President Bush is in the White House, and the President’s newfound firmness on fiscal responsibility will prevent them from funding programs in their own way.