The Establishment Republican Spending Epidemic

Congressional negotiators in Washington reached a deal to fund the federal government through September, and it must pass by Friday to prevent a shutdown. Not that it’s surprising, but the spending bill is not at all conservative — in fact it resembles something Democrats would have sent to Barack Obama, who would have been delighted to sign it. To be sure, this spending bill is causing grassroots conservatives to wonder what it’s going to take to win real spending reform in the Swamp.

Democrats Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi hailed the bill as a victory for Democrats. “Overwhelmingly, we were very pleased with the outcome — issue after issue,” boasted Schumer during his victory lap. “I would not say there’s a major loss in here.” And he has a legitimate point.

The legislation does not provide any further funding for a border fence along our southern border with Mexico. It does not eliminate money from “sanctuary cities” that fail to comply with federal immigration law. It does not cut funding at all for Planned Parenthood’s abortion mills. In addition, the deal cuts only 1% of the EPA’s budget and actually increases clean energy and science funding for the agency.

Sure, Republicans were able to increase defense spending by $15 billion, but Donald Trump had requested $30 billion. Republicans were also able to squeeze in $1.5 billion in funding for border security, yet none of that funding is usable for building a border fence or adding additional Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

More here