Hey Dems: Do The Right Thing

It seems to me that the following story is an example of how NOT to conduct Congressional business in an era - real or merely proclaimed - of bipartisanship, not to mention fiscal responsibility and economic hardship.

Fiscally-moderate Dems like myself are likely to get a little peeved if this is the "new" status quo....

CongressDaily
Blue Dogs Register Unease With Handling Of Omnibus Bill
Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009
by Humberto Sanchez and Christian Bourge

In a sign of possible intraparty tensions to come, some members of the Blue Dog Coalition today raised objections to the $410 billion omnibus spending bill that House appropriators are trying to pass by week's end. As the House began debate, Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., raised a point of order arguing that the package likely contains unfunded mandates in violation of House rules. He said House members had less than 48 hours to vet the bill's 9,000 earmarks and therefore cannot know all that is in the bill. "We have to pile through ... to see if there might be anything untoward," he said. Although the House overruled Flake's point of order, 234-177, eight Democrats joined Republicans to express their qualms with the handling of the bill incluing four Blue Dogs. Reps. Allen Boyd of Florida and Dennis Cardoza of California were seen huddling with Majority Leader Hoyer on the floor, and Boyd later voted with Flake. He told CongressDaily the two were discussing the need for regular order, which Boyd considers necessary because changes were made without full debate. "There is not any issue that wouldn't be resolved by regular order," said Boyd. Other Blue Dogs who sided with Flake included Reps. Mike McIntyre and Heath Shuler of North Carolina and Gene Taylor of Mississippi.

The House proceeded to consider a rule for passing the omnibus, which would complete appropriations for FY09. The rule passed, 398-24. The bill includes a provision canceling an automatic cost of living increase scheduled in FY10 for members of Congress. During debate on the rule, House Appropriations Chairman David Obey said Congress must pass the bill to ensure that the federal agencies have the needed resources to carry out the provisions in the $787 billion stimulus package. "It provides the base funding for programs that are funded in the recovery act, without which the additional recovery funding could not succeed," Obey said. "The bill also funds numerous critical programs not funded in the recovery act. We only touched about 25 percent of government accounts in the recovery act." He and other Democrats argued former President George W. Bush was responsible for delaying FY09 appropriations work because he refused to negotiate with Democrats unless they cut spending to his requested levels. House Republicans questioned the need for the omnibus package in light of the recent passage of the stimulus plan. House Republican leaders have called on Democrats to implement a spending freeze and extend the CR, which funds the programs covered under the nine bills at FY08 levels.