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As Democrats Would Claim, that is a $4 Billion in Savings

$11 billion in disclosed earmarks expected in fiscal year 2010

By Walter Alarkon - 12/12/09 04:08 PM ET
Congress is on pace to spend $11 billion on disclosed earmarks in fiscal year 2010, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense.

That’s about $4 billion less than last year’s cost of earmarks, which fund projects at the specific request of lawmakers. Disclosed earmarks totaled nearly $15 billion in fiscal year 2009, the groups said.

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/71951-11-billion-in-disclosed-earmarks-expected-in-fiscal-year-2010
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Senate Invokes Cloture on Omnibus Bill that Just Passed the House on Thursday

Senate invokes cloture on omnibus bill

By Eric Zimmermann - 12/12/09 10:34 AM ET

The Senate has just voted to limit debate on a $1.1 trillion omnibus appropriations bill, setting up a final vote sometime tomorrow afternoon.

Democrats pulled together exactly the 60 votes needed to invoke cloture, with a few members of each party switching sides.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/71931-senate-ends-debate-on-omnibus-bill

The vote was 60-34. 3 Democrats (Bayh, Feingold, and McCaskill) voted with the Republicans to vote no on invoking cloture, while 3 Republicans (Cochran, Collins, and Shelby) voted with the majority of the Democrats to invoke cloture.

Here is the roll call:

YEAs ---60
Akaka (D-HI)
Baucus (D-MT)
Begich (D-AK)
Bennet (D-CO)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Burris (D-IL)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Cochran (R-MS)
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Franken (D-MN)
Gillibrand (D-NY)
Hagan (D-NC)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kaufman (D-DE)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kirk (D-MA)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Kohl (D-WI)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (ID-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Merkley (D-OR)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schumer (D-NY)
Shaheen (D-NH)
Shelby (R-AL)
Specter (D-PA)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Tester (D-MT)
Udall (D-CO)
Udall (D-NM)
Warner (D-VA)
Webb (D-VA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)
NAYs ---34
Alexander (R-TN)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Bayh (D-IN)
Bennett (R-UT)
Brownback (R-KS)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Feingold (D-WI)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Kyl (R-AZ)
LeMieux (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ)
McCaskill (D-MO)
McConnell (R-KY)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Snowe (R-ME)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Wicker (R-MS)
Not Voting - 6
Bond (R-MO)
Bunning (R-KY)
Coburn (R-OK)
DeMint (R-SC)
Graham (R-SC)
Lugar (R-IN)

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Quotes of the Year

Media Belles at the Ball

Sometimes you must wonder how some members of the establishment media live with themselves. Their double standards are so egregious, as is their refusal to observe the boundaries between straight news and opinionizing (to coin a word), and as are their utter contempt for and viciousness against those anywhere to the political right of them, that one would think there is no way they retain any conscience at all.

Another column in this space, very soon, will analyze this topic in more depth, including a discussion not just of journalistic sins of commission but of omission as well -- but for today, I am pleased to help publicize the horrid "journalism" compiled by the Media Research Center for its annual "Best Notable Quotable" awards for the year's worst reporting. This is, I think, my12th straight year with the pleasure of being one of the MRC's judges for these awards -- but I think this year takes the cake.

Herewith, then, some of the entries that particularly enraged/amused/befuddled me:

http://spectator.org/archives/2009/12/11/media-belles-at-the-ball

Tags: Media  
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It's Not that Hard to Decide If You Just Read the Constitution Yourself

Sen. Landrieu Declines to Say Where Constitution Authorizes Congress to Force Americans to Buy Health Insurance, Saying She'll Let 'Constitutional Lawyers on Our Staff' Handle That
Friday, December 11, 2009
By Nicholas Ballasy, Video Reporter

Capitol Hill (CNSNews.com) – Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) told CNSNews.com she would leave it up to the “constitutional lawyers” to explain exactly where Congress gets the constitutional authority to force Americans to buy health insurance, the central mandate in both the Senate and House health care bills. 

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/58401
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Could the New CMS Report Kill the Senate Health Care Bill?

First, the CMS report released today:

Bill Makes Health Care More Expensive Than Doing Nothing At All

CMS: “This Bill Would Increase [Health Expenditures] By An Estimated Total Of $234 Billion”



CMS: “…We Estimate That Total National Health Expenditures Under This Bill Would Increase By An Estimated Total Of $234 Billion (0.7 Percent) During Calendar Years 2010-2019…” (“Estimated Financial Effects Of The ‘Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act Of 2009,’ As Proposed By The Senate Majority Leader On November 18, 2009,” Centers For Medicare & Medicaid Services, P.4, 12/10/09)

http://republican.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Blogs.View&Blog_Id=8d052053-5c88-4b60-9070-2c30c0dd7664

Now, the analysis:

Tottering   [Rich Lowry]

The Reid bill is really tottering now. "If this thing falls apart, you can look back to today as the tipping point," says a Republican aide in the Senate, echoing what Lamar Alexander notes in the Costa post below. First, there was last night's CNN poll showing 61 percent opposition. Then, there was the devastating CMS report today. "Nobody went to the floor that I could see to defend it on the Democratic side," says the aide. The back-drop for all this is the non-deal that Reid hyped as a break-through earlier this week, only to have it unravel almost immediately. Even Bill Nelson says the Medicare buy-in is basically a "non-starter." "You're starting to see other Democrats nibbling around the edges," the aide says. He predicts that if one Democrat comes out clearly against the Reid bill, others will follow, in a dynamic like the unexpectedly decisive defeat of the amnesty bill a few years ago.

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OTU3MDZjMTgzZWI3MDI5MzlhYmM0MGVhNjI4N2IxMWY=

Humpty Dumpty Harry Reid   [Robert Costa]

Sen. Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican and GOP conference chair, tells NRO that Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) is “all tied up in a knot.”

“All of the king’s horses and all of the king’s men may not be able to put 60 together again,” says Alexander, in reference to the (barely) 60 votes Reid got last month to bring his bill to the floor. “With two weeks until Christmas, Democrats find themselves in the awkward position of trying to pass a 2,000-page bill — a bill which most of them admit they don’t know much about.”

Alexander cites the new report from the chief actuary for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) as a potential death blow to Reid’s cause. The CMS, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services, says that if Reid’s bill became law, America would spend $234 billion more on health care over the next decade.

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NjhmNTIyMzMyNGEzMDRkMWRkNmU1ZWJkNmY2MjI2Yzc=



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ACORN Wins Court Battle

Judge Rules Effort to Strip ACORN of Federal Funds Unconstitutional

AP

ACORN claimed in its lawsuit that Congress' decision to cut off its funding was unconstitutional because it punitively targeted an organization

NEW YORK -- A federal judge has ruled the U.S. government's move to cut off funding to ACORN is unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Nina Gershon issued the preliminary injunction against the government Friday. She ruled that it is in the public's interest for the organization to continue receiving federal funding.

ACORN claimed in its lawsuit that Congress' decision to cut off its funding was unconstitutional because it punitively targeted an organization.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/11/judge-rules-effort-strip-acorn-federal-funds-unconstitutional/

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Guantanamo Bay Detainees to be Transferred to Illinois Revealed in a Leaked DOJ Memo

**Exclusive** Leaked Justice Department Memo: Terrorists To Be Moved to Camp Gitmo Illinois

by Publius

The Land of Lincoln may still be licking its wounds–and certain real estate transactions–over Chicago’s losing the Olympics to Rio, but the Obama Administration has delivered up a small consolation prize: the state’s very own federal prison for terrorists. Big Government has received a what is claimed to be a leaked DOJ memo that was allegedly sent yesterday from Eric Holder’s Department of Justice to Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Memo below:

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Not Going to Improve Much, But Instead Make Things Worse

House approves financial overhaul

By Silla Brush - 12/11/09 02:41 PM ET

The House passed financial overhaul legislation intended to boost consumer protection and crack down on Wall Street abuses.

The House on Friday passed a wide-ranging financial overhaul bill intended to boost consumer protection and crack down on abuses on Wall Street.

The House approved the bill on party lines in a 223-202 vote, with no Republicans favoring the measure, a top priority for the Obama administration. Twenty-seven Democrats crossed party lines and voted against the bill.

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/71877-house-approves-financial-overhaul

If you remember, I linked to an article that said that this bill will increase the deficit if passed:

CBO: Financial overhaul would hike deficit by $4.5 billion

By Silla Brush - 12/04/09 07:56 PM ET

A wide-ranging House bill to crack down on Wall Street and revamp the nation's financial markets will increase the nation's deficit by $4.5 billion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

The nonpartisan CBO said late on Friday that the effort between 2010 and 2019 would increase revenues to the federal government by $4.9 billion and increase spending by $9.4 billion. The package would have its biggest fiscal impact between 2010 and 2014, when budget deficits would increase by $10.7 billion, CBO said.

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/70723-cbo-financial-regulation-bill-would-increase-deficit-by-45-billion

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Still Waiting for Confirmation, But This Would be Great if True

Pakistan Media: Drone Killed Qaeda's No. 3

High-Ranking Official Abu Yahya al-Libi Allegedly Killed by Missile Strike; U.S. Has Yet to Confirm


(CBS)  A U.S. government official says a top al Qaeda operative has been killed in a drone attack in western Pakistan, and local media says that the strike killed al Qaeda's number 3 in command, Abu Yahya al-Libi.

The U.S. is still not confirming the report, CBS News has learned.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/12/11/world/main5967266.shtml
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The Only Effect of the Stimulus is Members of the Bureaucracy Getting a Pay Raise

For feds, more get 6-figure salaries Updated 54m ago |

The number of federal workers earning six-figure salaries has exploded during the recession, according to a USA TODAY analysis of federal salary data.

Federal employees making salaries of $100,000 or more jumped from 14% to 19% of civil servants during the recession's first 18 months — and that's before overtime pay and bonuses are counted.

Federal workers are enjoying an extraordinary boom time — in pay and hiring — during a recession that has cost 7.3 million jobs in the private sector.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-12-10-federal-pay-salaries_N.htm


Tags: government  
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Baucus Gave His Mistress $14,000 Bonus

Max Baucus gave girlfriend $14K raise



By MANU RAJU & JOHN BRESNAHAN | 12/11/09 4:40 AM EST

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, gave a nearly $14,000 pay raise to a female staffer in 2008, at the time he was becoming romantically involved with her, and later that year took her on a taxpayer-funded trip to Southeast Asia and the Middle East, though foreign policy was not her specialty.

Late last Friday, Baucus acknowledged his relationship with Melodee Hanes, whom he nominated for the job of U.S. attorney in Montana, after it was first reported on the website MainJustice.com. But he said that Hanes withdrew from consideration for the job when the relationship became more serious. The next day, he dismissed calls for an ethics investigation, saying, “I went out of my way to be up and up.”

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1209/30478.html



Tags: baucus   ethics  
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Pay Czar Issues Pay Limits for Executives at Bailed Out Companies

Tags: Bailout   czar  
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'An Irrational Act'

An Irrational Act
Trying KSM in NYC will delay the verdict, and reduce the chances it is the right one.

By Andrew C. McCarthy

Here’s the biggest problem with the Obama administration’s decision to transfer Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other 9/11 jihadists to the civilian court system: It makes sense only if it’s being done for the wrong reasons — to provide a forum for the Left to use al-Qaeda as a vehicle to put the Bush administration on trial, to give the Left the “reckoning” that the Obama campaign promised before the 2008 election.

As a matter of law enforcement or national security, it is irrational. To demonstrate this, we need look no farther than the two principal justifications Attorney General Eric Holder has offered: the asserted need to end delay in seeking justice and the claim that a civilian trial provides the best chance for a successful prosecution.

On the matter of delay, let’s put aside for now the fact that, during the Bush years, Holder’s former firm — and many lawyers who’ve since been recruited into his Justice Department after years of volunteering their services to the nation’s enemies — used every arrow in the litigator’s quiver to delay, delegitimize, and derail war-crimes trials by military commission. Let’s also ignore the fact that by subordinating terror prosecutions to terror prevention — i.e., by prioritizing interrogation and the gathering of intelligence over appointing counsel and disclosing intelligence — we thwarted additional terror attacks and saved lives. Let’s just stick with what passes for the attorney general’s reasoning: that it has taken too long for the military courts to complete war-crimes cases and that we must change our approach to avoid unnecessary delay.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NjM2OTZjYWY1NTYyNGY1NGZiOGY3NWUyNTkyMmM0MDk=
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'Martha Coakley: Too Immoral for Teddy Kennedy's Seat'

Martha Coakley: Too Immoral for Teddy Kennedy's Seat
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Is This What the Federal Government Should Really be Doing?

House panel passes college football playoff bill

Dec 9, 2:47 PM (ET)

By FREDERIC J. FROMMER

WASHINGTON (AP) - A House subcommittee approved legislation Wednesday aimed at forcing college football to switch to a playoff system to determine its national champion, over the objections of some lawmakers who said Congress has meatier targets to tackle.

The bill, which faces steep odds, would ban the promotion of a postseason NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision game as a national championship unless it results from a playoff. The measure passed by voice vote in a House Energy and Commerce Committee subcommittee, with one audible "no," from Rep. John Barrow, D-Ga.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20091209/D9CFVTR01.html


Tags: government  
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