Omnibusting: Omnibus Spending Bill, Earmarks, Pork and Budget Gimmicks

President Bush signed the $555-billion omnibus spending bill yesterday and reiterated his dislike for the pork-barrel projects included in the legislation.

I am disappointed in the way the Congress compiled this legislation, including abandoning the goal I set early this year to reduce the number and cost of earmarks by half. Instead, the Congress dropped into the bill nearly 9,800 earmarks that total more than $10 billion. These projects are not funded through a merit-based process and provide a vehicle for wasteful Government spending.

Bush’s statement didn’t specific any specific steps he would take to trim the fat from the bill, but the White House later confirmed that Office of Management and Budget Director Jim Nussle was still exploring ways to curtain the earmarks.

A political cartoon by Roll Call’s R.J. Matson:

The Heritage Foundation’s Brian Riedl discusses the explosion of earmarks and the budget gimmicks included in the fiscal 2008 omnibus spending bill in a segment on Fox News.

President Bush’s year-long fight with Democrats over federal spending gave conservatives hope that the White House had finally adopted the backbone needed to stand firm for fiscal restraint. It was less clear yesterday the Bush Administration would carry that fight into 2008. The release of a Statement of Administration Policy clearly stated Bush’s intention to veto the omnibus, as it’s currently written. However, Bush appears to be leaving the door open to signing the mammoth bill if money for U.S. troops in Iraq is added.

With the Senate set to tackle the Iraq funding issue as early as today, it appears Congress and the White House are closer to striking a deal than conservatives would like. Yesterday, Office of Management and Budget Director Jim Nussle said he was generally pleased with the concessions Democrats made regarding policy changes in the bill. He all but dismissed the notion of a veto for the explosion of earmarks, which the White House wanted cut in half. And Nussle appeared resigned to the fact that the administration would have to swallow nearly $20 billion in “emergency” spending and budget gimmicks.

The White House’s position has left groups like the Club for Growth deeply disappointed and conservatives frustrated by the apparent willingness to settle for a bad bill.

Less than 24 hours after Democrats unveiled a mammoth omnibus spending bill, the House of Representatives moved swiftly last night to approve it, shifting the battle to the Senate. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has promised to add about $40 billion to the bill for U.S. troops in Iraq; Democrats don’t appear to have the votes to stop it.

The House took two votes last night, the first for a bill without money for U.S. troops in Afghanistan. It won approval, 253 to 154, with 41 Republicans breaking ranks to support the measure. Eight Democrats voted with the GOP. The second vote, on a bill that included $31 billion for fighting in Afghanistan, was much closer, 206 to 201. Democrats needed to woo five Republicans to back the measure otherwise it would have failed. Eighteen Democrats voted against the measure.

Republicans voted against the latter bill because it included money only for troops serving in Afghanistan, suggesting Congress viewed the military men and women in Iraq differently. With the legislation now moving to the Senate, Republicans expect to add the Iraq money to the bill.

U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) made the following statement today regarding the release of the proposed 3,565-page Fiscal Year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations bill.

“Republicans were expecting something the President could sign with a straight face but this bill is completely unacceptable,” said Senator DeMint. “We’ve only had it for a few hours and it’s clear this is a bad deal. Instead of passing a clean bill, Democrats have packed it full of controversial policy riders, wasteful earmarks, and budget gimmicks that add billions in additional domestic spending over the President’s level.”

“I’m sure Democrats will try to ram this down our throats before anyone can read it, but we should do everything we can to stop them. I know many in Congress are anxious to get home for the holidays but we have a responsibility to stop wasteful Washington spending and protect American taxpayers,” said Senator DeMint.

After an initial review of the legislation, several wasteful and unnecessary provisions have already been identified:

· Earmarks: Instead of reducing the number of pork projects in the federal budget, the bill drives the number of earmarks up from last year. The bill contains over 8,000 earmarks, bringing the total for 2008 up to over 10,000 earmarks compared to just 2,658 in 2007.

· Spending Gimmicks: Instead of cutting wasteful spending out of the bill to bring its cost down to the President’s level, the bill uses budget tricks and gimmicks to hide at least $14 billion in extra domestic spending.

· Policy Riders: Instead of limiting the package to spending needed to fund government operations, the bill includes unrelated policy items. Many of these riders are backed by special interests, such as organized labor, and could not win passage on their own.

Democrats may move to increase drilling permit fees to make domestic energy production more expensive — and, in turn, raise the price of home heating oil and gasoline to Americans. Furthermore, Democratic leaders may be poised to slow the permitting process to allow for the development of energy resources on federal lands, increasing burdensome red tape.

Hat Tip: House Minority Leader John Boehner

Established in the 1920s, the Roan Plateau would provide enough natural gas to heat four million homes for 20 years. A recent Denver Post editorial applauded the House for stripping language from Democrats’ energy bill that would have banned development of the Roan Plateau, but Democratic leaders may seek to add that language into the omnibus spending bill.

Hat Tip: House Minority Leader John Boehner

Democrats may include harmful policy language in the omnibus spending bill that would breach the 1998-1999 Clinton oil and gas leases. The Bush Administration has estimated that leasing delays from resulting litigation will cost the federal government $11 billion and 1.6 barrels of oil — all at a time when oil prices are reaching record levels.

Hat Tip: House Minority Leader John Boehner

Democrats may attempt to insert the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act (H.R. 980) — legislation that would force all state and local governments to collectively bargain with police officers, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel — circumventing a legislative process that is well underway. At the behest of Big Labor, the legislation severely restricts the freedom of state and local governments to craft employment policies for public safety officers.

Hat Tip: House Minority Leader John Boehner

Tucked in the omnibus spending bill could be an effort to narrow the Department of Labor’s jurisdiction over labor racketeering and organized criminal enterprises, limiting responsibility exclusively to the Inspector General while excluding the rest of the Department.

Hat Tip: House Minority Leader John Boehner

The Democrats’ spending bill could limit funding to implement the Internal Revenue Service’s use of private collection firms to collect unpaid taxes. The private debt collection initiative is expected to collect $1.3 billion in taxes owed to the government that would otherwise go uncollected.

Hat Tip: House Minority Leader John Boehner