POTUS and Congress: Vote NO on Omnibus Spending Bill
This week Congress is expected to pass a so-called "must pass" Omnibus spending bill to continue government operations for FY 2018. With a Republican majority in both the House and Senate, and now with a supportive president who would not be expected to veto conservative legislation or spending cuts, one would expect this Omnibus appropriations to cut spending and return to limited government under the Constitution, but unfortunately that is not the case.
The Omnibus spending bill that the Republican-majority Congress is scheduled to pass, will fund Planned Parenthood, ObamaCare subsidies, gun control legislation, sanctuary cities, and possibly also a large Internet sales tax, according to the
Daily Caller citing a GOP aide as its source.
Numerous other media outlets including
The Hill and
Politico have also confirmed this in recent reports. On Monday evening, GOP lawmakers announced that they do not expect the online sales tax to be included in the Omnibus when the House votes on it, as early as Wednesday, however it could still be added back at the last minute. And, the other aforementioned unconstitutional and progressive proposals are still included in the bill.
As Bill Hahn, the Vice President of Operations for The John Birch Society, points out in this week's
JBS Weekly Analysis Behind the News, instead of lumping everything into one huge and loudly touted "must pass" Omnibus appropriations bill, "Congress is supposed to be passing 12 budget resolutions that originate from a request from the President, which is supposed to happen every February." Hahn continues, "Then Congress debates these and passes them. However, this is only for the discretionary portion of spending, which amounts to be about $1.2 or 1.3 trillion."
As Hahn further pointed out, according to Pew Research, this discretionary portion "includes everything from the military and space programs to disaster relief and farm price supports." The remaining larger portion is designated as "mandatory spending," which, at $2.6 trillion, includes "spending on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment compensation and other entitlement programs," according to Pew Research.
These 12 budget resolutions are also supposed to be passed by October in order to begin the upcoming fiscal year. However, "in the last 40 years," as Hahn elaborated, "Congress has only passed four of these bills on-time! One in the last 20 years! When bills are not passed on-time, Congress comes up with stop gap measures known as Continuing Resolutions. When they wait too long, then they pile a bunch of these Continuing Resolutions into an Omnibus bill." And this is what Congress is expected to pass later this week. Congressional irresponsibility resulting in ever-increasing, unconstitutional, out-of-control big-government, brought to you this week by the purportedly "conservative" Republican majority Congress.
With the Omnibus being sold as a "must pass" spending bill, will lawmakers break their campaign promises and oath of office to pass the bill? There is absolutely nothing conservative or fiscally responsible about this Omnibus bill, and its passage by Republicans would boil down to nothing more than a total betrayal to the American people who voted them into office under the guise of promoting limited government.
Instead of letting Congress think it can get away with this fiscal and legislative mess, tell both Congress and President Trump to vote NO and oppose this Omnibus spending bill. Time may be tight for lawmakers, but this bill is not at all acceptable. Instead, encourage both lawmakers and the president to return to limited government in
pursuance of the Constitution, as stipulated in Article VI of the Constitution.
Phone President Trump (202-456-1111) and ask him to oppose the Omnibus appropriations bill with its funding for Planned Parenthood, ObamaCare subsidies, gun control legislation, sanctuary cities, and possibly an Internet sales tax. Tell the president to veto the Omnibus if it is passed by Congress. Instead, urge the president to cut spending and return to limited government under the Constitution.
Phone your representative (202-225-3121) and your two senators (202-224-3121) with the same message.
Then, send an email to the president and your representative and senators with the same message.
Thanks.
Your Friends at The John Birch Society