DeMint Votes For Troop Funding, Against Largest Appropriations Bill in History
DeMint Votes For Troop Funding, Against Largest Appropriations Bill in History
Democrats Spend Billions on over 11,000 Earmarks, Cut Defense, Cut Border Funding, Increase Funds to Planned Parenthood and Labor Unions
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) made the following statement today after voting for critical funding for American troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, and voting against the 3,500-page Democrat Fiscal Year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations bill. The omnibus, which combined eleven separate bills into one mega spending bill, is the single largest appropriations bill in U.S. history at over a half trillion dollars for domestic programs.
“I proudly voted to support our troops who are fighting to win the War on Terror, but this wasteful spending bill is an insult to taxpayers,” said Senator DeMint. “The President and Republicans fought hard to lower the cost of this massive bill, but it is still unacceptable.”
“The Democrat omnibus perverts the purpose of our government. It piles debt onto our children so politicians can stuff their stockings with special interest earmarks.”
“Democrats used gimmicks to increase domestic spending by $24.3 billion dollars for liberal priorities like Planned Parenthood and attorneys for illegal immigrants, while cutting national defense. This is the single largest appropriations bill in history, not a single person read it, and yet we passed it in less than 48-hours.“
Earmarks comprise 696 pages, or one-fifth, of the omnibus spending bill. The omnibus contains at least 9,170 wasteful earmarks, bringing the total earmarks for the year to at least 11,331. That is a 426% increase over the number from last year, when there were just 2,658 earmarks in Fiscal Year 2007.
The Democrat omnibus contains at least 9,170 special interest pork projects, including such pressing national priorities as:
• Beverly Hills Veterans Park ($4,000,000,000)
• Rangel Monument to Me ($2,000,000)
• Rodent control in Alaska ($113,000)
• Olive fruit fly research in France ($213,000)
• Hunting and Fishing Museum in Pennsylvania ($200,000)
• Louis Armstrong Museum in New York ($150,000)
• A bike trail in Minnesota ($700,000)
• A river walk in Massachusetts ($1,000,000)
• A post office museum in downtown Las Vegas ($200,000); and
• The Lincoln Park Zoo in Illinois ($37,000)
Problems with Democrat Omnibus include:
• Over 11,000 Wasteful Pork Projects, Second Highest Earmark Total in History
• Overspends by $24.3 Billion in Gimmicks, Largest Spending Bill in History
• Weakens Border Security, Reduces Fencing
• Cuts National Security to Pay for Liberal Social Programs
• Cuts Abstinence Funding…Increases Planned Parenthood Funding
• Cuts Labor Oversight… Increases Funding to Labor Unions
• Cuts Funding for U.S. Marshals Service That Enforces Sex Offender Registry
• Allows Government to Sue Businesses that Require English in the Workplace
• Spends Millions to Help Solve Energy Problems… in NORTH KOREA
• Increases Funding for National Endowment for the Arts
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