Bailout And Spending Madness

Yes, it's definitely an election year!  Congress is eying another bailout bill, and it's going to take lots of grass roots opposition to kill it.  Here's the short version.

President Bush has backed off from his commitment to veto the latest bailout bill.  The Democrats are charging ahead, eagerly seeking to fleece the American taxpayers for more billions of dollars in bailouts for those who shouldn't be bailed out.  To make the situation worse, it appears they're trying to ram this new bailout through without any debate whatsoever!  Senator Tom Coburn:

By historical standards, this is supposed to be the greatest deliberative body in the world. In the 110th Congress, 890 bills have passed–890. Fifty of them have had debate. Only 50 have had debate. And for most of those, the debate has been extremely limited and shortened through the power of the majority leader…

American Thinker contributor Nancy Coppock concludes the following:

Disgusting. We are getting a taste of what an Obama Presidency and Democratic Party controlled Congress will be like. Talk about American held hostage....we will not only be hostage, but find ourselves standing before our ATM with men wearing power ties standing unnaturally close.

She's right.  This is only the beginning.  If this mentality continues to pass bailout after bailout despite some fairly stiff Republican opposition, can you imagine what it will be like if the Democrats seize significant majorities in Congress and the White House in November?  They'll take more and more of it through taxes until you'll be lucky to take home any of your paycheck!

The leading pork-killer in the Senate, Jim DeMint of South Carolina, said the following about Bush's change of heart:

"The president has decided he wants the bailout more than he wants to stand by his position to veto it," DeMint said.

The White House had threatened to veto the bill because it contains $3.9 billion in Community Development Block Grant [CDBG] funds, but that money was a huge priority for liberal Democrats in both chambers who see the money as a key to helping prop up distressed urban neighborhoods.

DeMint called the CDBG money a "slush fund" and said the federal government was showing "gross incompetence" with the housing bill.

Since taxpayers are now apparently going to bail out Fannie/Freddie, DeMint is moving to prevent lobbyists from mucking around with the two companies.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid promptly sent a message to K Street lobbyists to oppose DeMint's efforts.  Wait a second...I thought K Street was supposed to be the tool of rich, business-friendly Republicans...!

The fact is that Congress -- led by Democrats, but including way too many Republicans -- is recklessly spending your taxes on lobbyists, bailouts, and buying votes as fast as they can.  At some point, they're going to spend it faster than you can make it!  The Dems, in particular, are resorting to any means necessary of squashing the efforts of those who stand for fiscal responsibility.  As evidence, I give you the Coburn Omnibus bill that Harry Reid is now pushing in the Senate.  From Freedom's Watch:

Americans are looking to Congress to move America toward energy independence and what does Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid do instead? He schedules a vote on an $11 billion pork barrel spending package - with no offsets!

That's right - another $11 billion added directly to the deficit. You won't believe the story.

Anti-spending champion Senator Tom Coburn has used a time-honored Senate tradition to put "holds" on 36 different spending bills to prevent them from being passed without a full debate. Many of these bills are worthwhile, but others would, in the words of the Wall Street Journal, "enrich special interests and private developers at the expense of taxpayers."

They would also fund such "critical" projects as a greenhouse in Maryland, studying historic shipwrecks, and the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture. At a time when the costs of gas and food are skyrocketing, these are the wrong priorities.

Frustrated at Coburn's holds, Reid rolled all these bills into one - cynically calling it the "Coburn Omnibus" - and plans to hold a straight up-or-down vote, no amendments.

There are just a handful of good Republicans willing to stand against this insanity, including DeMint, Coburn, and, yes, McCain is pretty solid, too.  Congressional spending is absolutely out of control, and your Senators and Rep need to hear from you about it.  The American economy is at stake, and that includes your own pocketbook.

There's my two cents.