TCS Statement on Senate Passage of Emergency Spending Bill

Mar 29, 2007 | 2 min read | Print Article

Washington, D.C. – The following is a written statement by Ryan Alexander, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense, on Senate passage of the emergency supplemental spending bill:

Today, the Senate followed the House by overwhelmingly passing its version of the FY07 emergency supplemental spending bill. After passage, Senators are rushing off to a week-long recess, leaving behind a $122 billion mess.

With the drafting of the emergency spending bills, the Democrats are beginning to mimic the profligate spending of their predecessors, which they often criticized as being fiscally irresponsible. Now back in power, Democrats are trying to keep everyone happy by packing the bills with special interest provisions and non-emergency projects for every corner of the country. The final bills have billions for agriculture disaster relief, and millions for spinach, shrimping, tree farms, local schools, and the 2008 nominating conventions. Despite political campaign rhetoric, the big spenders are still in town, even if they are leaving for a short recess.

Despite the rhetoric that this is the last chance for Senators to address these supposed national “emergencies,” Congress will actually have more than a dozen opportunities over the next few months. When each of the thirteen Fiscal Year 2008 spending bills is considered later this year, Congress can weigh these funding items against other projects in the budget. For example, the $100 million for security costs at the nominating conventions in the summer of 2008 could easily been funded through the normal appropriations process.

Next week, House and Senate staff will meet to hash out differences between the Senate’s version and the $124 billion House measure. We urge the President to follow through on his promise to veto the emergency spending bill for blowing past his initial ante of $103 billion. The Democrats don’t have the votes to overcome a veto. So they can either put this time to use stripping wasteful and non-emergency spending measures or sticking to their big spending guns and do this all over again after the veto.

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