In their final hours as a narrow majority in a lame duck Congress, Democrats are desperately seizing the opportunity to use an earmark-filled 4,100-page “omnibus” spending bill to implement more of their radical leftist agenda using taxpayer dollars.
And, unfortunately, swamp-sustaining Senate Republicans have done nothing but enable this last-ditch effort to pass policies that are antithetical to everything conservatives stand for. (RELATED: STEPHEN MOORE: Even Republicans Are Starry-Eyed Over Washington’s Massive Spending Spree)
Adding to more than $31.4 trillion in debt, the American people are getting a bad backroom deal that is a Christmas present only the special interests in Washington will love. Rather than fighting for the voters who elected them to office, weak and compromised Republican leaders are choosing to actively help pass this terrible bill filled with Biden-Schumer-Pelosi priorities.
The omnibus bill pumps over $1.7 trillion out of American wallets, with $15 billion going directly into more than 7,200 pet projects for Congressman known as earmarks. In New York, there is $3 million allocated to fund an LGBTQ+ museum. There is $3.6 million for the “Michelle Obama Trail.” There are also tens of millions of dollars available for salmon, and $3 million for bee-friendly highways. And Speaker Pelosi will have a building named after her.
Among the other provisions is millions in funding for radical gender ideology programs that seek to advance woke leftist messaging.
Additionally, they propose massive funding “antiracist” initiatives, giving more to “green” infrastructure, expanding welfare programs to compensate for President Joe Biden’s inflationary policies, pouring millions of dollars into broken government agencies such as the FBI that have caved to extreme ideology, and giving more money to the abortion mill, Planned Parenthood.
The omnibus also does nothing to slow down the flow of illegal immigration into our country. Millions of migrants continue to invade the open southern border, subjecting women and children to human trafficking and bringing enough fentanyl to kill every American.
And Senate Republican leaders worked with Democrats to thwart the efforts of Sen. Mike Lee to maintain Title 42 powers at the border. While the invasion into the United States will continue, the bill instead provides $410 million for border security in Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia and Oman. And, as they ignore America’s security, the big spenders propose $47 billion more in aid towards Ukraine with no accountability for how it will be spent.
By allowing the omnibus to pass, Senate Republicans are taking away the constitutional power of the purse from the new Republican majority in the House. Rather than passing a bill to temporarily fund the government into the new year in order to give Republicans another seat at the table, Leader Mitch McConnell is giving up our position as a firewall for bad Biden-regime policies in this nightmare-before-Christmas scramble.
It is no surprise to me that American distrust of their elected officials in Congress is at an all-time high.
I reject this gross misuse of power and taxpayer dollars, and I urge all Republicans to hold the line in accordance with the will of the people who sent us here. Americans deserve better than politicians who promise one thing and deliver another.
This week I joined Congressman Chip Roy of Texas and 31 of my House Republican colleagues and pledged to oppose bills from any Republican senator who supports the passage of a bill that takes longer to read than “War and Peace.”
No Republican should turn their back on taxpayers and support a bill that plunges American voters nearly $2 trillion further into debt.
Looking towards the rapidly approaching swearing in of the new Congress on January 3rd, it is clear we need strong House leadership to fight on behalf of the American people and stand up to the big spenders in our own party.
Bob Good is a U.S. Representative for the 5th District of Virginia. He serves on the House Budget Committee and Education and Labor Committee.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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