The "Red Headed Step Child" Bill

 

 

"I would say this bill is a real stinker, but that would be an insult to other stinkers..."

They are doing it again. It seems they cannot stop themselves. Only this time they have come up with something so bad, so outrageous, so egregious,  that the ideologues on the Left as well as the financial conservatives on the Right both hate it. What is it? The $1.1T Omnibus funding bill for GFY 15.

This bill has a little bit of everything for just about everyone to hate. The best part? Hold your hats on, because this has never been tried before in Washington. It was put together in the middle of the night, presented in the last minute, so very few (if any) had time to read it. Plus (here is the frosting on the cake), because it was an omnibus bill, all kinds of garbage which has NOTHING to do with funding the government were thrown in as riders. This bill stands in the "Hall of Shame" right next to ObamaCare and Stimulus.

Because our part time lawmakers decided to wait until the very last second to address GFY 15 funding, there was literally no time to debate the innards of this bill. Was does that mean? Which ever side puts up too much of a fuss, enough to pull the bill back to be debated, will be accused of shutting down our precious government. And somehow, through the magic of Washington, the Republicans always seem to get blamed for shut downs.

One of the things that really has the Ultra Left (like Elizabeth Warren) tied up in knots is a relaxation of some Dodd-Frank rules. You know - that whole derivative issue that some of the Left blame for the 2008 financial melt down. Now I am not in favor of Dodd-Frank. I think the entire bill was an overreach. I am fine with some rollback on the regulations it promulgated. However, this derivative issue does not belong in this funding bill. It should be a stand alone. Period.

The thing that financial conservatives (like me) are upset about is the size of the funding. Everything but the kitchen sink was included in this bill. Oh, did I mention money for amnesty is also in this bill? In fact, all of the pet rocks belonging to BHO are in this bill. The Speaker put on his boots with round heels (one again), and caved. Who lost? Once again, the American people.

Hopefully if the country is not bankrupt by October of 2015, the GFY 16 funding bill will look quite a bit different. We really need to demand more from the people who represent us. If they are not up to the task, they need to do the right thing and resign. We will find some people with the acumen and honor to do this job right.