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Omnibus budget bill: easy come, easy go — 10 Comments

  1. This could be a watershed event if the GOP can quickly take the 2011 budget back to the advertised 2008 level, even though the target should be the 2006 level, or lower.

    Next the focus must start reducing the preponderance of recent strangling regulation. That may be a bigger test for our next Congress. Any bets on even modest success before 2013?

  2. What’s so disgusting about earmarks isn’t the dollar amount. After all, in a $1.3 trillion dollar budget, $8 billion of earmarks is only six-tenths of a percent. The senators say that the earmarks enable them to have a say in how the money is spent, rather than leaving it up to the White House. But we all know they put the earmarks in there because they think it will buy votes from their constituents. And the “leadership” uses the earmarks to get votes for these giant stinking bills. So to try to get themselves re-elected, these low-lifes will fund a monument to a dead Senator for a few million bucks, meanwhile passing a bill that loads our grandchildren with $1.3 trillion of debt. “Why Richard, it profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world… but for Wales?”

  3. Actually, Stark while the Feds and States could arguably do with deregulation of some things, (particularily things involving small businesses and some enviro regulations) it’s quite obvious that others need more regulation, not less. For instance, the entire Finance industry has an extensive problem with under-regulation and “captured” regulatory agencies and people should be banned from going back and forth between the gov’t and private industry.

  4. Stark and Brad,

    They could also make some inroads into simplifying the tax system and maybe flattening tax rates.

  5. Regarding the Commerce Clause thread recently. Here is what Judge Vinson said:

    “It would be a giant leap for the Supreme Court to say that a decision to buy or not to buy is tantamount to activity,” Judge Vinson told the court. … “If they decide that everyone needs to eat broccoli,” then the commerce clause could allow Congress to require everyone to buy a certain quantity of broccoli, the judge said.

    This stupid little trick of defining an end which will serve as justification to employ means, the means being the real end, and then claiming the commerce clause allows means beyond enumerated powers, is travesty, outrage, and treason. Lawyers, as Neo stated, can get around anything. Let’s get a rope around their necks.

  6. Congressional leaders always count the votes before they really count the votes. I’m guessing there were some conservative Democrats who did not want to vote for that omnibus bill.

  7. expat:

    You are correct. The current tax structure encourages fraud and exemption by special interest, in addition it is too complicated, wastes lots of time and productivity and is a boon to tax lawyers.

    I’d even be up to supporting a flat tax if there was an exception for say, the first 15 or 20 k of income, which would be the one bit of “progressivism” I would insist on.

  8. How did the 1924 page Omnibus Bill emerge, suddenly and fully formed, from the legislative sea? That’s an important question, should’ve been asked about the other humongous bills in the near-past session.

    I’ve only seen one reference to authorship (? in WSJ) of Omnibus: Sen. Inouye, who reportedly incorporated ALL the earmarks filed by members of both parties before the Repubs forswore earmarks months ago. The Bill had long ago completed its gestation. Thus 6400, and all the rest of it, suddenly saw the light of day.

    In addition to other needed reforms, I will hope for a documented trail of authorship on all bills, to accompany each bill when filed. You know, kinda like the trailers on NYT articles that joe, shmoe, sam and ham contributed to the story (though not enough to make the byline).

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