Well, well, well…. (h/t – Instapundit)
Even Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio, who made battling earmarks a cornerstone of his Congressional career since his election in 1990, said he would not have predicted that Congress could kick the habit.
“Think of this fight we have had for 20 years,” Mr. Boehner said in a recent interview. “If somebody would have asked me, ‘Will you ever get there?’ I would have had my doubts.”
But through a confluence of events, Mr. Boehner and the rest of the anti-earmark crowd did get there; the impact of the decision by leaders of the House and the Senate to ban earmarks for at least the next two years is already being felt.
When House Republicans were searching for cuts to offer Senate Democrats as part of a temporary spending plan to avert a government shutdown, they were able to reach into accounts set aside for earmarks and find nearly $2.8 billion that would have previously gone to water projects, transit programs and construction programs. No earmarks, no need for that money, and the threat of an imminent shutdown was eased.
Lawmakers said the absence of earmarks also allowed for a more freewheeling debate on the House floor during consideration of the Republican plan to slash $61 billion from this year’s budget since Democrats and Republicans were not caught up in protecting the special provisions they had worked so hard to tuck into the spending bill.
ACTUAL change you can believe in. Boehner’s Congress has already shown to be a better steward of our money than every Congress in a generation before.
-Bruce (GayPatriot)
Kudos, Congress!
(and Bruce, please don’t tell me this was a prank again 😉 )
I remains mute until the Auntie of All Dogma drops her drawers and power blasts us with a non sequitur.
This is the 2010 and 2012 Hope and change we voted for.
God Bless America
and keep the conservatives strong.
#2 – Now THAT is priceless, Helio. Kudos!
Regards,
Peter H.
Maybe Nancy Pelosi was a Tea Party plant installed as Speaker to discredit the Democratic Left.
Nancy Pelosi as a plant: what a concept.
Poison Ivy. Kudzu. Venus Flytrap. Stinkweed. Nettle. Skunk Cabbage. Wolfsbane. Cow Cockle. Purple Vetch. Snakeberry. Nightshade. Dolls Eyes. Death Camas. Destroying Angels. Fiddleneck. Locoweed. Mandrake. Death Cap. Ragwort. Choke Cherry. And so forth.
Personally, I prefer a cross between Nightshade and Kudzu. A creeping, smothering toxic witch of a pest. (Somehow “pest” is too much of an understatement. What is a plant substitute for predator?)
Peter H:
Wouldn’t we all love to see a rendering of The Auntie of All Dogma hunched over blowing her gaseous fumes just for effect? She is such a caricature of a stereotype of a stereotype being “unique.” (She really is just a grump with rolled stockings bitching at the pigeons.)
Speaking of which, where’s Paula? She scurried off to manufacture the Current Truth on that homophobe union thug and haven’t seen her since.
Paula, Levi, Lauren, Steve, & Anti-Dogma are all MIA. I don’t notice a difference. Perhaps they are at one of the union protest rallies since dear leader decreed they do so?
Helio – there’s Amorphophallus titanum – the world’s biggest and smelliest flower. It should serve as the mascot plant of the 111th Congress.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/07/0718_020718_stinkyflower.html
The Amorphophallus titanum attracts flies since it smells like sh*t. I’m serious. Someone should send one to Michelle Obama to place in her garden ASAP. The Amorphophallus titanum would also make for a good substitute for minority leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi when she is unable to speak to botox shock.
Holy kraut, Sebastian, you have nailed it. If it attracts flies and smells like sh*t it has to be the one. It even ends in phallus. Does it get any closer to the truth? I was dealing in minor misterwieners. The titan of all amorpho phalli …. what a distinction. And to have it smell like a freshly opened septic tank is the creme de la creme. It is Nancy Pelosi unbotoxed and stripped naked. (Sorry for the devastating mind picture.)