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December 10, 2010

Stealth spending on the way

K.E. Campbell
Beware of another budget busting Trojan Horse sneaking into law, off the media radar.

On Wednesday, the still-Democrat-controlled House approved a $1.1 trillion spending bill to fund the government through September 30, 2011, or until the new Congress can produce a budget. According to The Hill, this Continuing Resolution was needed "because Congress failed to pass any of the 12 regular appropriations bills for 2011, in addition to failing to pass a budget resolution at all for the first time since 1974." The federal budget is supposed to be finished by October 1, the start of the government's fiscal year, otherwise "continuing resolutions" are required to keep government running.

The Resolution that passed included, among many other things, passage of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, which the Senate had passed last month but was returned to the House due to an overlooked Constitutional requirement.

The Resolution now heads to the Senate where Democrats intend to "amend" it into a massive Omnibus spending bill, already affectionately deemed Cromnibus (cram + omnibus). Fox News reports that "Senate Democrats are planning to add more money, including thousands of pet projects sought by lawmakers." According to The Hill, the Senate bill "would provide about $19 billion more in funding than the House Resolution and would contain congressional earmarks." The Washington Examiner reports that the Senate bill will include a "massive federal land and water grab." In the rush to wrap up matters before the end of the year and the 111th Congress, details such as normal legislative oversight will be pushed aside.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) opposes to Omnibus bill, saying it includes a stealth provision to fund ObamaCare. According to Sen. Coburn:

"The bill provides $19 million to the IRS for dictating health insurance under the new health law -- a small but significant opening salvo in the push to give IRS tax bureaucrats power over Americans' health care. The legislation also spends $12 million on an unelected panel of bureaucrats who will issue costly mandates, make coverage decisions for all Americans, and could deny patient choice under the guise of ‘prevention.'

"The bill also provides a fat $3.6 billion check for Dr. Donald Berwick, the new head of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, to be used for non-descript ‘program management.' The fact that Dr. Berwick continues to evade questions from members of the press and public raises serious questions about his intended purpose for these funds.

"Other funding for the new health law in the bill seems to reflect the desire of congressional appropriators to micromanage and make decisions in areas in which they have limited knowledge and expertise..."

Sen. Coburn likens the maneuver to a Trojan horse. He favors repeal of ObamaCare and replacing it with health reforms that will "truly lower costs and improve health care quality and access."

Cromnibus: the latest example of the ruling class governing against the will of the people.

Hat tip:  Ralph Bristol

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