Only 16 Republicans (Two from Michigan) Got on This Bus

If there is one common frustration with Congress that is shared by most Americans it's the spending and deficits. Congressmen can swear off taxes, but at the federal level, they can still spend without raising taxes, they just print money and borrow.  Congress is now passing budgets with deficits over $1 trillion per year!

The House Republicans in Washington have a website: www.gop.gov. On February 25, 2009, they published a summary of HR 1105, "The Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009". The purpose of the site is to inform voters of what is going on in Congress and the GOP's position on various bill in Congress. Without question, the message from gop.gov is, "this bill costs too much money."

Regarding HR 1105, gop.gov said: "The $32 billion increase represents the largest one-year hike in annual appropriated spending percentage since the Carter administration, with the exception of funding immediately after September 11th.  And since many of these programs and agencies received funding in the recent "stimulus," the combined increase is $301 billion or 80% over Fiscal Year 2008."

The website lists numerous "concerns" about the legislation, such as: 

• $545 million that will be funneled to International abortion providers
• $1.45 billion for Amtrak (because they keep losing money)
• $181 million for the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, a suspected shell organization of ACORN
• $155 million in additional funding for the National Endowment for the Arts
• $80 million for Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery
• $1.9 billion for the Dept. of Energy for "energy efficiency initiatives"
• $300,000 to National Fish and Wildlife Service for "Loon Research"
• $1.1 billion for "Cattle Studies"
• $347 million to the Mine Safety and Health Administration, in part to pay for trophies and certificates for mine rescues and first-aid work

The list goes on, and on, and on...you can read all the inglorious details here.

The website expresses serious concerns with the Omnibus Bill and its wasteful spending. The GOP was mostly successful in convincing Republican members of Congress to NOT support the bill. Of the 178 Republicans serving, only 16 voted for the Omnibus. (Two are from Michigan.) Find them all here.