In three of the last four years, Congress has combined all the outstanding appropriations bills into one large omnibus bill. Each omnibus bill was ridiculed at the time for forcing Congress to vote on a huge sum of money without a chance to split it up and thoroughly examine each line-item. The cost of those budget-busting bills were:
- $515 billion in fiscal year 2008;
- $464 billion in fiscal year 2007; and
- $388 billion in fiscal year 2005.
Even those expensive spending bills are dwarfed by the new “stimulus” bill that will cost (at minimum) $816 billion plus $347 billion in net interest, for a total $1,163 billion over the next decade. At least the expensive omnibus appropriations bills were usually put together over 8 months. This “stimulus” bill will have been publicly unveiled and passed in about a month.
So within a matter of weeks – and with only a few hearings – Congress and the President will have enacted one of the largest permanent redesigns of the federal government since the Great Society. Given the unlikelihood of these provisions being temporary, Washington is set to:
- Essentially federalize the construction and renovation of public schools;
- Begin subsidizing health insurance for unemployed Americans regardless of income;
- Create more than 30 new federal programs;
- Radically expand antipoverty spending and effectively abolish the hugely successful 1996 welfare reform; and
- Create trillions of dollars of new debt, to be dumped into the laps of our children and grandchildren.
Some could justify this legislation if it ended the recession, but few economists on either side of the spectrum believe that will happen. Even the Congressional Budget Office calculates that the “stimulus” will worsen the long-run performance of the economy.
The new political model is simple: Spend a few weeks radically expanding government and debt, and then decades paying the price.
By the way, the omnibus appropriations model is not dead. In the next week, Congress is expected to unveil a $412 billion omnibus bill for 2009. Old habits die hard.
With no integrity there are no rules. The majority government is run with absolutely NO DISCIPLINE. With Obama at the lead.
Walk don't run to the nearest exit. The urgency of pushing along so many programs is indicative of wanting to do it before inflation kicks in and the country revolts. Take head gentle reader for the end is not in site. This out of control congress will not stop until all of the friends are paid off, there is class division, segregation comes back, China becomes the new dominant power of the world after suckering us into protect them from North Korea. That is only in the next 12 months. The next year will be spent in getting the undeserving raises for the next congressional election to buy the votes for more change. When I hear the word change I can only think of when my daughter was a baby and the word change came with a wafting aromatic bonus. I think I smell it again.
Addressing friends of Congress. Will anyone really investigate the Acorn fiasco and put a stop to this tragic situation? This is typcial of todays Government.