March 5, 2009 1:20 PM
Cramer blasts Obama, Democrat dissent begins
This guy was an Obama supporter:
Then there is this news from Family Research Council:
Rebels with a Cause
Today, the man responsible for stuffing $90 million worth of earmarks into last year's spending bills ordered his old stomping ground to start slimming down on pork. Just one day after the Senate passed $7.7 billion worth of pet projects in the omnibus bill, the White House called for a crash diet on waste. Capitol Hill's response? "You first." To the disgust of his own party, the President's call for thrift comes just days after he proposed a massive $3.6 trillion budget plan. Increasingly, Democrats seem willing to confront Obama.
While the President can coast through earmark hypocrisy on his popularity alone, Congress doesn't have that luxury. Members' approval ratings are low, and the skepticism over spending has never been higher. Yesterday, a group of 14 moderate Democrats met quietly to discuss how they could challenge a president, who, as Politico puts it, "is turning out to be much more liberal than they are." Senators Ben Nelson (D-Nebr.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.), and Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) were among those who debated how they could best support their President and still maintain some semblance of fiscal responsibility. Their concerns should give the White House new pause, particularly since a few unhappy Democrats could cause major heartburn in the upcoming budget debate.
Bayh, the mastermind behind this new moderate "caucus," said he was "very concerned" about Washington's latest splurges. He, like many other Democrats, thought the effort to trim waste should have started in the $410 billion omnibus. As Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) point out, it wasn't for lack of trying. The pair offered an amendment to strip $7.7 billion in earmarks from the bill, but it lost 32-63--thanks in large part to nine members of the GOP: Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), Robert Bennett (Utah), Kit Bond (Mo.), Thad Cochran (Miss.), Susan Collins (Maine), Olympia Snowe (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Richard Shelby (Ala.), and Arlen Specter (Penn).
Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) tried--unsuccessfully--to send the bill back to the appropriations committee with the understanding that it would have to cut spending to 2008 levels.
Meanwhile, the battle over Obama's budget is already underway. Apart from the eye-popping price tag, the President's plan to limit tax deductions on charitable giving is drawing fire from all sides. FRC has taken the lead on a bipartisan letter of protest to Senate leaders, urging them to reconsider a measure that could have devastating consequences on U.S. philanthropy. If you'd like to put your two cent in, please contact your leaders and ask them to oppose Obama's uncharitable attitude toward giving.
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