Last week, we noted that
Harry Reid, with the help of Republican leadership, is attempting to
come late to the 2012 budget game and commandeer the entire process
through a series of 'minibus' bills. They are using House-passed
appropriations bills as vehicles to tack on at least two additional
disparate spending bills. Such a maneuver will allow the Senate to
force a conference committee vote on spending measures and policies that
the House never amended. Although the topline discretionary spending
figure is already set, Reid is wagering that his fast track minibus
strategy will allow him to override House-passed policies, while
inserting his own policies into the bills. Thus far, he has been
successful.
The first minibus is comprised of the House-passed
Agriculture appropriations bill (HR 2112), along with the Senate's
version of the Commerce-Justice-Science (S 1572) and Transportation-HUD
(S 1596) measures. Democrats assert that this package, which authorizes
$128 billion in discretionary spending, is actually $1 billion below
last year's levels. To that end, it is slated to pass today with
overwhelming bipartisan support.
The problem is that this bill will actually increase spending. As Senator Sessions observed,
this bill increases spending by $2.2 billion because it contains extra
emergency spending – without any offsets. Moreover, this bill increases
mandatory
spending by $8 billion on Food Stamps. The Food Stamp program (SNAP)
is, by far, the fastest growing government program, as it is emblematic
of Obama’s socialist transformation of our country. In just three
years, SNAP enrollment has jumped from 27 million to 45 million, while
its budget has doubled to over $77 million for FY 2011. Yet, many
Republicans are ready to sign their life away to Harry Reid.
Two
weeks ago, Senator Sessions attempted to cut spending on Food Stamps by
eliminating “categorical eligibility.” This is a practice in which
states automatically grant Food Stamps to people who had received a
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families brochure or contacted a
pregnancy hotline funded by that program. Categorical eligibility
allows many people to enroll in SNAP who would otherwise be disqualified
because of their income level. Last year, members of the Government Accountability Office flagged this wasteful practice, and called for congressional action. Unfortunately, Sessions’s amendment to the minibus bill was defeated with the help of six Republicans.
Today, the Senate will be voting on final passage of the minibus bill, following votes on six Republican amendments.
While these are very constructive amendments, Democrats will invariably
vote them down. As such, Republicans must vote against final passage
of this bill. If the bill passes the Senate, House conservatives must
oppose efforts of their leadership to steer the minibus away from the
House floor directly into the hands of the appropriators in conference
committee. Conservatives must get a chance to vote down pernicious
policies and extraneous spending in bills that never saw daylight in the
House.
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