DEMOCRATS' RECORD OF FAILURE:
Fiscal Responsibility
In January, Democrats took the
reins in Congress, portraying themselves as agents of change
who would restore trust by ending pork-barrel politics in Washington.
But after the first 100 days of Democratic rule, it is clear
Democrats are exactly who we thought they were all along
the same old party of tax-and-spend government. And congressional
pork is back, with a vengeance.
The collapse started in February
when House Democrats passed a massive spending bill for fiscal
year 2007 a bill they touted as earmark-free,
which was later confirmed to contain hundreds of millions of
dollars in funding for earmarks. Weeks later, Democrats passed
a war spending bill loaded with billions of dollars in pork projects,
with Democratic leaders reportedly threatening to deny prized
earmarks to members who opposed the leaderships plan to
choke off funding for American troops and their mission in Iraq.
Instead, Democratic leaders moved to pork up the war funding
bill on the backs of our troops, providing funding for spinach,
tropical fish, and other pet projects in exchange for their support
for a bill that gave al-Qaeda a timetable for American surrender.
House Democrats continued their
fiscally irresponsible run in late March by passing a budget
containing the largest tax increase in American history, raising
taxes on middle-class families to pay for the Democrats
new spending. All this, in fewer than 100 days.
WHAT THEYRE SAYING ABOUT
DEMOCRATS FAILURES ON FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY
The Democrats failure on
the issue of fiscal responsibility has not gone unnoticed. Heres
just a sampling of comments about their record in the first 100
days of the 110th Congress:
Democratic Congressional
leaders have pledged to end the anonymity by requiring disclosure
of the lawmakers who sponsor earmarks, and some have proposed
ending the practice of airdropping items into a bill
just before final passage. But the appropriators and their allies
often complain that such measures single them out unfairly, and
Democratic draft proposals introduced this year left loopholes
for many projects.
- In New Congress,
Pork May Linger, New York Times, November 26, 2006
This is an earmark-free
[omnibus spending bill], boasted Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Illinois,
who chairs the Democratic Caucus. But the claim of earmark
purity doesnt stand up to scrutiny.
The no
earmarks loophole was big enough to allow a convoy of earmarks
into the final bill, including $185 million for agricultural
research projects and $50 million to build an experimental rain
forest in Iowa.
- Democrats
No Earmark Pledge Doesnt Stand Up to Scrutiny,
OpinionJournals Political Diary, February 2, 2007
Its hard to say which
is worse: leaders offering peanuts for a vote of this magnitude,
or members allowing their votes to be bought for peanuts.
- Pork Has No
Place in Emergency War Bill, USA Today
Editorial, March 22, 2007
As it is, House Democrats
are pressing a bill that has the endorsement of MoveOn.org but
excludes the judgment of the U.S. commanders who would have to
execute the retreat the bill mandates. It would heap money
on unneedy dairy farmers while provoking a constitutional fight
with the White House that could block the funding to equip troops
in the field.
- Retreat and
Butter, Washington Post Editorial, March 23, 2007
Democratic leaders and
appropriators responded by adding $21 billion to the [troop funding
bill]. The vast majority of the additions comprised pork projects
or spending utterly unrelated to the wars. The extra spending
was designed for a single purpose: to purchase support from Democrats
who otherwise would have voted against the bill. Moderate
Democrats opposed the legislation because of its war-fighting
micromanagement features and ultimatums. Liberal Democrats opposed
it because it did not stop funding the Iraq war.
- Hogs on the
Hill, Washington Times Editorial, March 23, 2007
REPUBLICANS ARE WORKING TO
PROMOTE FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY, SUPPORT OUR TROOPS
House Republicans have worked
to bring greater transparency and accountability to how taxpayer
dollars are spent. We brought earmark reform legislation to the
floor and passed it last September, and yet virtually every Democrat
including Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, and Rahm Emanuel
voted no. The reform bill, which went into
effect immediately upon passage, required public disclosure of
the names of all earmark sponsors the first time such
legislation had ever been passed.
Last year House Republicans rejected
$14 billion in unnecessary and non-emergency spending added by
the Senate to the emergency supplemental bill. This year
Republicans are fighting to do the same by rejecting worthless
pork projects added to the war spending bill at the expense of
our troops.
House Republicans also presented
a fiscally-responsible proposal that balances the budget without
raising taxes. On the other hand, in their first 100 days, House
Democrats have failed their key tests of fiscal responsibility
and it is middle-class families and American troops who
will pay the price.
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