By Ray Cardello for December 29, 2022 Season 15 / Post 19

There was a time when bills could pass through the Senate or the House on bipartisan votes, and it was considered good governing. Bills had opponents and proponents because of differing views, but a vote, either way, was not catastrophic to the country’s future. This was back in the day before we became so polarized, and there was minimal opportunity for compromise. Today, meeting in the middle is far more difficult as both parties tend to shift left and right. There are some bills where there is no way that a Republican, especially a Conservative, should sign onto a Democrat-sponsored bill in either chamber of Congress. The recent Omnibus Bill passed last week exemplifies such a piece of legislation.

An omnibus bill is a proposed law that covers many diverse or unrelated topics. Omnibus is derived from Latin and means “to, for, by, with or from everything” In reality, an omnibus bill is a vehicle to allow every member of Congress to satisfy their special interest supporters with expensive pork-filled items. The bill passed last week had a ludicrous price tag of $1.7 Trillion and over 4,000 pages. The finalized bill was printed and delivered to members of Congress with less than twenty-four hours to read before casting their votes. Nobody read the bill, nor would it have made a difference if they did. You are either for out-of-control spending or not. Historically, Republicans were for fiscal restraint, but not so with the RINOs of today.

The following Republicans voted for the monstrous bill, and the excuse that it was necessary to fund our military is weak. That could have been done with a continuing resolution, and the 2023 Republican controlled House could have killed this bill.

Representatives:

• Fred Upton of Michigan,
• Liz Cheney of Wyoming,
• Adam Kinzinger and Rodney Davis of Illinois,
• Chris Jacobs and John Katko of New York,
• Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania,
• Jaime Herrera Butler of Washington State, and
• Steve Womack of Arkansas.

Senators:

•  Roy Blunt (MO), Todd Young (IN)
•  John Boozman (AR), Shelley Moore Capito (WV) 
•  Susan Collins (ME), John Cornyn (TX)
• Tom Cotton (AR), Lindsey Graham (SC) 
• Jim Inhofe (OK), Mitch McConnell (KY)
• Jerry Moran (KS), Lisa Murkowski (AK)
• Robert Portman (OH), Mitt Romney (UT)
• Mike Rounds (SD), Richard Shelby (AL)
• John Thune (SD), Roger Wicker (MS) 

Some of the names on this list, like Cheney, Kinzinger, and Romney, are not surprising. But some names are stunning. I would never have thought Cotton, Graham, Portman, or Shelby would have crossed the aisle. Seeing Mitch McConnell vote AYE is disappointing but more proof that he must be replaced as Minority Leader. Acts like this vote explain why he did not give more support to Republican candidates trying to unseat incumbent Democrats. His time to move on has come.

You cannot recap a 4,000 page bill of waste in a short article, but some of the more egregious items are: a minimum of $575 million towards “family planning” and “reproductive health,” including in areas where population growth “threatens biodiversity;” the creation of a new “pandemic czar;” $1.2 million for centers that support LGBTQ students at San Diego Community College District; $3 million towards the New York Historical Society’s “American LGBTQ+ Museum Partnership Project” and $750,000 to the Translatin@ Coalition.

The $750,000 for Translatin@coalition stands out due to the topical concerns surrounding the grooming of youths and controversial subject matter being injected into public schools – in this case, a $750K earmark for a Los Angeles coalition pushing for LGBT indoctrination in elementary schools. It is not only unAmerican but sinful that an initiative like this is funded with American tax dollars. Do your homework and find out what your reps are spending your hard-earned money on. Do these people deserve your support and vote? I am not sure anyone does anymore.