I joined with 206 of my colleagues, both Republicans and Democrats, in voting against the $1.1 Trillion spending package that, after being signed into law by President Obama, will fund the federal government until next September. The one exception is the Department of Homeland Security funded only to next February.
My opposition to the bill reflected my dismay at both procedure and policy used to secure its passage. Over the last two years the Democrat controlled Senate has ignored over two hundred bills passed by the House, which included appropriation bills needed to fund federal departments and agencies. Yes, this vote was needed to keep the federal government open and operating, but it was a bastardization of the democratic process to shove so many different bills into one massive treatise that covers a wide spectrum of unrelated programs and policies. If no amendments are permitted, which happened in this case, spending and policy will be approved that could never be approved if they were a separate thus accountable vote. There were many provisions, including funding levels I found to be totally unacceptable, which at least deserved a direct vote. For example, the bill increased funding levels for efforts concerning illegal immigration that I believe will exacerbate America's illegal immigration problems. But the vote was all or nothing so I opted for nothing rather than acquiesce to something which will make the illegal immigration situation worse.
The major decisions addressed by this bill should have been postponed and brought up in January immediately after the new United States Senate is sworn in. That would certainly have meant that the policies being enacted more closely follow the current will of the American people. Instead, the House passed a massive bill through Congress that had the support of a significant number of Democrats . . . including President Obama, which tells us something about the fundamentals of this legislative package. I voted NO realizing there were good things included, but that was not enough to make up for the bill’s bad policy, procedure and spending levels.
My opposition to the bill reflected my dismay at both procedure and policy used to secure its passage. Over the last two years the Democrat controlled Senate has ignored over two hundred bills passed by the House, which included appropriation bills needed to fund federal departments and agencies. Yes, this vote was needed to keep the federal government open and operating, but it was a bastardization of the democratic process to shove so many different bills into one massive treatise that covers a wide spectrum of unrelated programs and policies. If no amendments are permitted, which happened in this case, spending and policy will be approved that could never be approved if they were a separate thus accountable vote. There were many provisions, including funding levels I found to be totally unacceptable, which at least deserved a direct vote. For example, the bill increased funding levels for efforts concerning illegal immigration that I believe will exacerbate America's illegal immigration problems. But the vote was all or nothing so I opted for nothing rather than acquiesce to something which will make the illegal immigration situation worse.
The major decisions addressed by this bill should have been postponed and brought up in January immediately after the new United States Senate is sworn in. That would certainly have meant that the policies being enacted more closely follow the current will of the American people. Instead, the House passed a massive bill through Congress that had the support of a significant number of Democrats . . . including President Obama, which tells us something about the fundamentals of this legislative package. I voted NO realizing there were good things included, but that was not enough to make up for the bill’s bad policy, procedure and spending levels.
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