Tony Perkins Washington Update
Published: 02-13-09
House Republicans may have been shut out of yesterdays negotiations but
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) made plenty of room for Bay Area harvest mice. Apparently if youre looking government assistance only small mammals need apply. Unbeknownst to most of her chamber the Houses big cheese managed to slip a $30 million wetlands restoration project into the latest stimulus to protect San Franciscos favorite rodent.
Unless she plans on employing them no one is quite sure how these mice could possibly jumpstart the economy. Still Democrats insist there will be no earmarks.
Once you get it to conference said Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) anythings possible including it seems plenty of pet projects. Proving that it is possible to railroad pork through the conference process
Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) managed to sneak an $8 billion Las Vegas-Los Angeles train track into the stimulus package in the final hours on Wednesday.
According to his office the amount is four times what Reid included for the construction projects in the Senate bill. Even if the train did create jobs in the short-term many are skeptical about the future of the track. A similar line was derailed in 1997 when it failed to attract enough riders.
Although key leaders say the chambers have struck a deal on the $789 billion bill most of the House and Senate have yet to see the final text. Our sources on the Hill confirmed that House Republicans (including their conferees) had no role or input in the legislation whatsoever effectively shutting out the GOP from the final process.
Even angry Democrats complained about the secrecy. Most of the final agreement was cobbled together behind closed doors with a handful of House and Senate leaders and their Republican allies Sens. Arlen Specter (Penn.) Susan Collins (Maine) and Olympia Snowe (Maine).
Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) put up quite a protest this morning on the House floor criticizing the leadership for asking the chambers to vote--sight unseen--on the largest single bill in the history of Congress. Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) did request that the final conference agreement be made available to members in an electronic searchable and downloadable form for at least 48 hours before the vote. His motion passed unanimously but whether the leaders will abide by the vote is uncertain. What is certain however is that Obama will likely celebrate Presidents Day by signing a bill that 50 of Americans believe will likely make things worse.
Additional Resources
Rasmussen Reports: 67 Say They Could Do A Better Job On The Economy Than Congress
