HR 1105, the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009, is the proverbial “Cherry on Top” of the wasteful Stimulus Package. For the hard-working, tax-paying American, it is madness that within days of the passage of the largest spending bill in history, there is another colossal spending bill ready for passage! But that is the sort of Orwellian dream in which our Representatives in Congress seem to live. If an extra large spending bill is enough to make the American people simmer, imagine how they would feel if they knew that HR 1105 provides for a 7.5% increase in funding across the board? And at a time when nearly all Americans are cutting back to save themselves from ruin? The U.S. House of Representatives Republican Committee on Appropriations launched a scathing criticism of the House Democrats’ inability to grasp reality:

One of the basic duties of Congress is to pass annual spending bills to fund the federal government. As part of this process, Congress is responsible for making tough budget decisions and providing critical oversight of government spending, while representing the interests of the taxpayers who foot the bill. The FY 2009 Omnibus is the essence of the Democrat Majority’s failure to fulfill these basic responsibilities.

To make matters worse, this massive spending bill was created undercover and out of view of the American public. Only three of the bills contained in the Omnibus were cleared by the full House Appropriations Committee in a public mark-up, and none were considered on the House floor. The rest have been crafted and negotiated by staff under the direction of the Democrat leadership without the involvement of the vast majority of Members of Congress or the public.

This back-door dealing has resulted in an Omnibus package that represents the interests of a handful of Democrat leaders and staff. Everyone else – including Democrat and Republican Members of Congress and American taxpayers – has been left out.

One thing is absolutely certain: the conniving lobbyists and special interests will have a front row seat in Speaker Pelosi’s office while this assault on America’s future is being drafted. Numerous House members had complained how lobbying firms received drafts of the Stimulus Package before they did; in some cases, lobbyist handwriting was scribbled into the margins, directing their lawmakers exactly where to put taxpayer money. And this time is no different.

Worst of all: This massive spending bill comes hard on the heels of President Obama’s Fiscal Responsibility conference, as well as repeated promises to end earmarks. As Yahoo Finance reports:

The measure includes thousands of earmarks, the pet projects favored by lawmakers but often criticized by the public in opinion polls. There was no official total of the bill’s earmarks, which accounted for at least $3.8 billion. The legislation, which includes an increase of roughly 8 percent over spending in the last fiscal year, is expected to clear the House later in the week.

No doubt, Rep. Rosa DeLauro will cast a YES vote for HR 1105 and another colossal financial assault on every single one of her struggling, worried constituents. And, her YES vote will be a grave insult to President Obama’s pledge to end earmarks and promote fiscal responsibility.

Only in Washington can congressional Democrats increase government spending and congratulate themselves for “cutting” the size of a bill. While the bill is reported to cost $789.5 billion, Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid have removed what little amount of tax relief for working families and small businesses was contained in the bill in order to pay for more big government spending. All of this was done behind closed doors and out the sight of the American people. In fact, congressional Democrats have yet to share the text of the conference report with Republicans. Apparently congressional Democrats don’t want the American people to know what’s in this massive bill before it becomes law.

Democrats Made Tax Relief Smaller…
• Cut car credit (potentially from $11.5 billion to $1.6 billion)
• Cut “Make Work Pay” credit from $500/individual to $400/individual, and from $1,000/couple to $800/couple (approximately $28 billion less in tax relief)
• Cut home buyer credit from $35 billion to $6.6 billion (limited to first-time home-buyers and limited to $8,000)
• Cut Net Operating Loss significantly to as little as $947million (makes it only applicable to employers with $15 million or less in revenue—but only for the year 2008, in other words it provide no help for losses in 2009)

…To Add More Government Spending Back In
• $9 billion for school construction was added back in (originally cut by Nelson-Collins)
• $5 billion increase for state fiscal stabilization fund (originally cut by Nelson-Collins), making it a grand total of $53.6 b
• $2 billion for neighborhood stabilization program, money for groups like ACORN
• $1 billion added back for Prevention & Wellness Programs, including STD education
• Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research was added back in, leading Americans down the path towards healthcare rationing (63 patient advocacy groups signed a letter voicing their concerns with this provision)
• $8 billion for Harry Reid’s high speed rail ($6 billion over the Senate and $8 billion over the House). The spending will go to at least two rail projects–LA to Las Vegas and one in the mid-west including Wisconsin and Illinois.
• $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts (the Senate struck this $)
• $300 million for golf carts STILL included
• $100 million for “small shipyards” (this money did not exist in the House-passed bill)
• $650 million for DTV conversion STILL included
• $20 million “for the removal of small-to-medium-sized fish passage barriers”
• $25 million “for recreation maintenance, especially for rehabilitation of off-road vehicle routes”
• $43 million for other park and fish and wildlife trails
• $150 million for the Economic Development Administration (EDA), some of which can go to the “mob” museum
But, Not for Infrastructure: Money for highways and bridges was cut by $1 billion from the House-passed level

Key Points:
• Tax relief to help middle class families and small businesses was sharply pared back in order to increase government spending. (Americans overwhelming believe tax cuts, and not government spending, are a better way to stimulate the economy)
• Approximately $75 billion in true tax relief was CUT from the Nelson-Collins package. So, while the overall size of the package may have gotten slightly smaller, the spending actually increased.

Total Tax Numbers:
• Total Conference Report Tax Title = $326 Billion (41% of the bill)
• However, $111.9 billion is actually spending through the tax code, and not new tax relief (subtract this out and Democrats’ tax relief falls to 27%)
• Finally, Democrats include a 1-year patch for the AMT, which while necessary by the end of the year because it prevents a tax increase, does not add new tax relief to help stimulate the economy (subtract this $70 billion out and Democrats’ tax relief falls to 18%
• Total Conference Report Tax Relief = $144 Billion (only 18% of the bill)

And of course, our Connecticut delegation were everywhere to be seen upon passage. The picture above and another one by the New York Times, shows both Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-CT, and John Larson, D-CT, at the sides of Speaker Nancy Pelosi as they laughed with tax cheat Rep. Charles Rangel, D-NY.

Wow, was that vote a riot!

Instead, Mr. Obama chose to let House Democrats write the bill, and they did what comes naturally: They cleaned out their intellectual cupboards and wrote a bill that is 90% social policy, and 10% economic policy. (See here for a case study.) It is designed to support incomes with transfer payments, rather than grow incomes through job creation.