Letters From The Senator

Senator Warner (D-VA) sent me an email about his Op-Ed in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. I honestly don't know how I feel about this. Needs more thought.

[Sen. Warner] joined a bipartisan group of senators and representatives, including Virginia Rep. Frank Wolf [a Republican], in co-sponsoring legislation to create a commission on federal budget and entitlement reform.

We are calling for creation of a bipartisan task force that will make sweeping budget and revenue recommendations to be presented to Congress, with no amendments allowed, for a simple up-or-down vote. [I don't like "sweeping" recommendations; I do like simple up-or-down vote without amendments.]

As we've seen in the current health care debate, legislative deal-making too often allows parochial and political considerations to trump the national interest. [Parochial as in "religious", or as in "narrow, local"? How do we determine the "national interest" exactly?]

That's why I believe this Bipartisan Task Force for Responsible Fiscal Action could serve as the basis for a new process to tackle this fiscal challenge.

Everything would be on the table, including spending and revenues. We can't solve this challenge by looking at only one side of the ledger. [Ya think?]

The task force recommendations would be considered by Congress under expedited procedures with a "yes" or "no" vote required. [Okay ...]

Most important, the task force approach would ensure a bipartisan outcome. A supermajority of the task force members would have to agree to adopt the recommendations, and congressional approval would require supermajorities in both the Senate and House. [How is a task force membership any different than sitting on a House or Senate Committee? How do you decide who gets to be on the task force?]

This is the only way needed changes are going to be adopted and maintained over time.

No one party can or will do this on its own. Both parties must be invested in the outcome and committed to its success.

Today, our nation's economic strength and vitality is at stake. Leaders on both sides of the aisle in Congress need to join in this effort to demonstrate they are serious about solving the problem together so that we can once again return our nation to a responsible fiscal path. [We could have used a little fiscal restraint during TARP, the stimulus, and the health care bill. No use talking about being wise about the borrowed 5 bucks that the nation has left, once the entire Treasury has been spent.]

A Sticky Dickey-Wicker

CNS reports:

On Wednesday, only two days after he lifted President Bush’s executive order banning federal funding of stem cell research that requires the destruction of human embryos, President Barack Obama signed a law that explicitly bans federal funding of any "research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death."

The provision was buried in the 465-page omnibus appropriations bill that Obama signed Wednesday. Known as the Dickey-Wicker amendment, it has been included in the annual appropriations bill for the Department of Health and Human Services every fiscal year since 1996.

How ironic. This is definitely a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand was doing. In this case, it's hard to feel bad about it -- although I'm sure the President is a little embarrassed if anybody other than CNS and Fox News has reported on it. Now unless they rush to reverse themselves, it will be in effect until the end of the fiscal year, September 30.

It's little flubs like this that just make my point for me: omnibus bills are bad. It's bad governance. An Omnibus bill can be defined as a legislative bill which provides for a number of miscellaneous enactments or appropriations. In plain terms, this means "a kitchen sink bill". This is how legislative pork gets passed -- buried in attachments, riders, and amendments to a larger spending bill that "must" get passed.

Ominbus bills are collections of economic flotsam -- stuff that almost nobody wants and can't get passed on its own merits. My Senator, Jim Webb (D-VA), had the nerve to write this to me:

I was pleased to work with colleagues from both sides of the aisle to put this plan into place within a set of targeted parameters for economic renewal.

His cohort, Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), fed me the same shovel-ready load of rubbish.

Moving forward, I will continue to work for Virginians to ensure that the funds in the stimulus package are directly targeted to job creation and "shovel ready" initiatives.

Really? This porkulus is "targeted"? Maybe it's targeted in the same way that a Gatling gun is targeted: if we just spray bullets (or money) in a wide enough swath, we just might hit something.

Phooey. Omnibus anathema sit.

Porkulus Rumbles On

In once sense, the Obama administration and the current liberal Democrat power pyramid should be commended at least for being consistent.

They believe in big government and big spending in matters social and economic -- and are giving it to us in spades. (President G.W. Bush gets the non-coveted Blynken Raspberry award for going against his party's small government principles by giving us TARP in the first place.)

Only the gargantuan proportions of the trillions of dollars spent by the recently passed TARP and ARRA so-called stimulus bills could make the Senate giving final approval to a $410 billion spending bill to fund most of the federal government for the remainder of the year look small.

Visualize trillions of dollars here for some perspective.

• President Obama said that "At this particular moment, with the private sector so weakened by this recession, the federal government is the only entity left with the resources to jolt our economy back to life."
  
• Secretary of State Clinton stated: "Never waste a good crisis ... Don't waste it when it can have a very positive impact on climate change and energy security."
• Barack Obama’s health care plan follows the Democratic template—an emphasis on dramatically and quickly increasing the number of people who have health insurance by spending significant money upfront.
• Obama rescinds conscience rule, funds ESCR and overseas abortions.
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday she is open to introducing a second stimulus bill, but it's too early to determine the size of such a package and the timing on another major economic measure.
• A Virginia Senator Jim Webb email states "This economic recovery package is designed to swiftly drive money into our struggling economy. While this legislation is an important step, other measures must be adopted to restore the health of our economy. These include appropriate reforms of our banking and financial systems, tax fairness, and measures to place the nation on a long-term path to fiscal responsibility. "
• Virginia Senator Mark Warner's email states "The Recovery and Reinvestment Act is but one component of a three-part plan to restore our economy. We still have important work to do to address the foreclosure crisis and shore-up the real estate market and we also must take steps to repair our banking system."

The hits just keep on coming -- and it's only been 50 days.

I Smell A RAT

Unfortunately, this kind of thing is going to keep happening for a while. More revelations regarding "hidden" provisions in the ARRA stimulus bill, aka Porculus.

(Newser) – Hidden away in the $787 billion stimulus bill is a lousy provision that threatens to inject politics into the jobs of supposedly independent government watchdogs, writes Byron York of the Washington Examiner. The bill creates something called the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board—the RAT board to the few who know of it. From now on, inspectors general—investigators who check into wrongdoing at federal agencies—must clear their inquiries with the board.

"The language means that the board—whose chairman will be appointed by the president—can reach deep inside a federal agency and tell an inspector general to lay off some particularly sensitive subject," writes York. "Or, conversely, it can tell the inspector general to go after a tempting political target." It's not clear yet who snuck it in, but signs point to the Obama administration, not Congress.

Hidden? How is it hidden you ask? The pig is a bloated 1,000 plus page document that nobody read. Did I mention I hate omnibus bills?

It's actually hard to move me to public action, since I normally seethe in private indignation, but I got so annoyed with my elected officials that I wrote my Congressmen about it. One Senator and one Representative did not bother to acknowledge me -- fie! The other U.S. Senator from Virginia, Mark Warner, sent me this lovely form letter; a few days later when I urged the Senator to READ the bill before voting on it, he sent me almost the exact same form letter again.

Thank you for contacting me with your views on the economic stimulus package. In order to best represent you as your United States Senator, it is vital that I hear your view on this and other important matters.

I recognize that many Virginians still have concerns about the need for a stimulus package. There has also been a good deal of misinformation surrounding this legislation, both about what is included and how it will be implemented. On February 10, 2009, I joined a majority of the Senate in approving a bipartisan compromise to restart the economy through a responsible mix of tax cuts and investments that will create jobs. The compromise includes more than $360 billion in tax relief and roughly $460 billion in short-term spending over the next two years on roads, rail, water and sewer projects, as well as additional health care and jobless assistance for the unemployed. The agreement was widely supported by our nation's leading business groups, and I was pleased to work with a centrist group of colleagues to craft the proposal that passed the Senate, which was signed by the President on February 17, 2009.

President Obama and the relevant Congressional committees have been in close consultation with state and local officials and a wide range of economic experts to develop an approach that represents a prudent and effective path to economic recovery. Their consensus found that if nothing is done in the face of this economic crisis, catastrophic consequences could face small businesses and working families across the country.

The Administration and Congress have provided for unprecedented oversight, accountability and transparency in the measure so that taxpayers' money is handled carefully and used in the most efficient and effective manner possible. Moving forward, I will continue to work for Virginians to ensure that the funds in the stimulus package are directly targeted to job creation and "shovel ready" initiatives. You should know that a Recovery Act and Transparency Board will also oversee the disbursement of the funds and a website provided by the White House, www.recovery.gov, will post detailed information about recovery spending.

The Recovery and Reinvestment Act is but one component of a three-part plan to restore our economy. We still have important work to do to address the foreclosure crisis and shore-up the real estate market and we also must take steps to repair our banking system so that credit will begin flowing again to consumers and small businesses.

Again, thank you for your input. As we move forward in the 111th Congress, please continue to be in touch with your opinions and concerns.

Sincerely,
MARK R. WARNER
United States Senator

Man, what is that stink? First pork, then rats, now weasels. Who's running this zoo?