As the House takes up a $1.1-trillion omnibus appropriations bill for fiscal year 2014 on Wednesday, it will do so without the support of Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), who says the rush job is a bad deal for a number of reasons.
“I appreciate the fact that this is a bipartisan agreement. But a bipartisan agreement that moves our country in the wrong direction is still wrong,” he said.
McClintock objects to both the process and the fine print:
“This is not the regular order promised to the American people, in which each of the 12 appropriations bills is painstakingly vetted. It’s all 12 bills rolled into one, with no opportunity for meaningful debate or amendment,” McClintock said in a speech on the House floor Wednesday.
Not only does the bill increase discretionary spending, it is also $45 billion more than the sequester would have allowed.
“When we vote for these appropriations, we’re responsible for the money that we waste, not the money that we don’t waste,” McClintock said. “Regular order would at least give the House a chance to examine and debate these questionable programs before we cast our votes.”
By pushing through a 1,582-page spending bill, Congress will get its debate after the bill has passed, he predicted: “This measure will face the full light of public scrutiny in the days ahead, and that may prove to be very harsh indeed.”
Read more.