Senate Republicans Hold It Together, Pork-Filled Omnibus Bill Killed

The Senate Republicans were able to hold it together and force Harry Reid to back down and pull the omnibus bill full of Christmas goodies to various special interests because of a lack of support:

Sen. GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has long been known as an effective whip, and Thursday night he showed his prowess as he effectively stripped Democrats of the GOP votes needed to pass the $1.2 trillion omnibus spending bill, killing the measure for good.

A visibly frustrated and angry Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, lashed out, saying that he had nine GOP senators supporting the measure, but that suddenly the support evaporated.

"This action taken by my friends on other side of aisle going to cause people to lose their job," Reid predicted.

"There's only one reason why cloture is not being filed...He doesn't have the votes.," McConnell chided, as he referred to the term for the process to shut down a filibuster. "And the reason he doesn't have the votes is because members on this side of the aisle increasingly felt concerned about the way we do business."

A McConnell aide said the leader "worked the phones" for days, pressing his members to quash the bill which contains $8 billion in earmarks (1% of the overall bill), several that belonged to the leader, himself, before he agreed to a pork moratorium.

Tempers flared in the chamber quickly, as Republicans gloated.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz, crusader against pork, tweeted all day Wednesday and Thursday with earmarks he found in the bill, from money for disease-resistant wine grapes to a ceramics museum in Biloxi, Miss. And Thursday night, with a big grin, he praised GOP members for ditching the deal.

Two cheers for the Republicans for, actually, standing up for Republican principles. This bill needed to be tossed out and started anew. Hopefully, they will be able to do another one soon. Hold the pork, though.

They needed to do this to keep or regain the confidence of the people that elected them to turn things around. The GOP has been just as bad in this area over the last decade as the Democrats, which is why they got the boot in 2008. Luckily, the TEA Party was able to wake up the Grand Old Party this past year before were exiled into oblivion forever.

They are still are on probation with the voters. So, they need to keep working on being the fiscally responsible and cutting spending, if they ever want to get regain our trust for good.

Video: McConnell: I'm Not Going to Support Any Multi-Trillion Omnibus That's "Thrown Together Behind Closed Doors"

Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican Leader, stood up in front of the Senate, yesterday, and said that he will not support any spending bill that the Democrats might try to ram through in the lame duck session that has been "thrown together behind closed doors".

“One thing we’ll need to do before we leave this year is fund the government. Because Democrats didn’t pass a single appropriations bill this year.

“So now they’ll try to mop up in the 11th hour with an Omnibus spending bill that covers all of it. This is one more sign they aren’t learning many lessons from the election.

“If this election showed us anything, it’s that Americans don’t want Congress passing massive trillion dollars bills that have been thrown together behind closed doors.

“They want us to do business differently.

“So I won’t be supporting an Omnibus spending bill.

“We’ve seen what happens when Democrats rush legislation and try to jam it through at the last minute with no time for review or for the American people to learn what’s actually in the bill. The Cornhusker Kickback and Louisiana Purchase are fresh on their minds.

“Americans want us to take our time and get things right. And they want us to spend less.

“The voters have spoken.

“We need to show we heard them.”

This is an obvious reference to the times that Pelosi had literally locked out Republicans over the past two years, when there were negotiations involving important legislation.

If he follows through, this would be a sharp contrast to the all-too-obvious contempt and hyper-partisanship that Pelosi has shown Republicans over the years.

Sen. McConnell Reverses Course Over Earmark Ban

There was a surprise announcement on this first day of the lame duck session of Congress, today. Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell (R-KY), pulled an abrupt 180 over the earmark ban that the House Republicans are pushing:

In an abrupt reversal, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday endorsed a moratorium on earmarks that GOP conservatives are seeking to send a signal that the Republican Party is serious about curbing federal spending.

The Kentucky lawmaker announced his concession on the Senate floor, moments after the start of a lame-duck session of Congress that could stretch into mid-December. McConnell's announcement served as recognition that his bid to retain the practice of steering money to pet projects was losing steam to an emboldened coalition of tea party-backed senators, led by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.).

"Make no mistake, I know the good that has come from the projects I have helped support throughout my state. I don't apologize for them," McConnell said. "But there is simply no doubt that the abuse of this practice has caused Americans to view it as a symbol of the waste and the out-of-control spending that every Republican in Washington is determined to fight. And unless people like me show the American people that we're willing to follow through on small or even symbolic things, we risk losing them on our broader efforts to cut spending and rein in government."

This is a pretty significant turn around because the House can't pass the ban all by themselves. However, the Democrats are still dominate both sides of Congress until the end of the year. So, this might be a no-go until the beginning of the 112nd Congress.

Also, There are much bigger fish to fry during this session, that'll only last a couple of weeks, like extending the Bush cuts and passing a budget. I don't think that this will pass during the lame duck, but it will probably be one of the first things, if not number one, on the agenda for Congress in 2011.