Speaker of the House Paul Ryan issued a release hailing the passage of his omnibus federal spending bill titled, “House Passes Spending Bill to Advance Republican Priorities.”
If the omnibus advances Republican priorities, the GOP officially died on Dec. 18, 2015.
Strong on national defense? Not according to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, who the Washington Examiner reports, “claimed that it will help terrorist travel and economic espionage in the United States.” This is not to mention the funding of President Obama’s Middle Eastern refugee resettlement program to the tune of over a billion dollars.
Protecting the borders? No, the Obama executive amnesty is funded and our nation is facing another wave of illegal immigrants emboldened and encouraged by a sure knowledge that they will be welcomed into the U.S. social welfare safety net.
Cutting the budget and fiscal responsibility? The omnibus appropriates a massive federal government spending splurge amounting to an additional $112 billion over the next two years, effectively destroying the Republican House’s only real accomplishment over the past five years — capping federal spending.
Rein in Obama’s extreme social agenda? The GOP not only failed to defund Planned Parenthood, it failed to make even minor cuts to the taxpayer dollars the group receives.
Additionally, Office of Civil Rights Commissioner Gail Heriot said she was “baffled” by Congress’ decision to include a 7 percent raise for the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights in light of their “pattern of disregard for the rule of law.”
The Education Department’s Civil Rights Office has been in the news most recently when they forced an Illinois school district to allow a male student who claimed to be transgender to use the girls shower facilities, and Republicans rather than demanding a stop of this perverse extremism, instead gave them a raise in their budget.
Stop Obama’s devastating anti-energy environmental policies?
In spite of the rhetoric, GOP Senators and House members failed to use the power of the purse to rein in a single one of Obama’s economy crippling regulations. What is worse is that they showed their threats against Obama’s Paris climate treaty are flaccid as they did not prohibit funding of the critical Global Climate Initiative that gives U.S. dollars to third world countries as a payoff so they support the deal. The funding guarantees the Obama will not submit the treaty to the Senate and will use the EPA as the hatchet man to implement it without Congress.
Unfortunately, the problem is not just Speaker Ryan and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, it is the majority of the GOP congressional class that has completely lost touch with the people who put them in office, and those same people will rightfully push the plunger and flush them all.
When historians look back at the end of the GOP, and hopefully not also the final death throes of the republic, today will be the day they mark as the one when the Grand Old Party lost its legitimacy to lead.
Speaker Ryan will spend his time over the next year claiming that he is restoring regular order and Congress’ Article One constitutional prerogatives, but the public won’t be fooled. Today was the day to use the power of the purse to stop what has become an almost omnipotent executive branch, and Paul Ryan never even tried.
Rick Manning is the President of Americans for Limited Government.
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