The Ugliest Omnibus Bill Ever – WSJ
Congress will pass a 4,155-page bill most Members will never read.
By The Editorial Board, Dec. 20, 2022 6:40 pm ET – Excerpts:
The 117th Congress has been the most spendthrift in history, and this week it plans to go out with one final bipartisan back-slapping hurrah—a 4,155-page omnibus spending bill that is the worst in history. This is no way to govern in a democracy, but here we are….
Democrats failed in their duty to pass normal spending bills, so they are using this omnibus to finance all of government with $1.65 trillion for fiscal 2023. But wait, it’s worse. Congress is also adding major policy changes many of which deserve separate votes or couldn’t pass by themselves—from healthcare to presidential election rules to regulation of the beauty industry (see nearby).
A bill this large—1,500 pages more than last year’s omnibus—can’t be all bad, and this contains a few bright spots. One is $858 billion for defense, a 9.7% increase. That’s $45 billion more than President Biden sought, and it will backfill dwindling weapons stocks, give military members a 4.6% pay raise, and help stabilize the naval fleet, among other urgent needs…
Republicans claim they’ve broken the longtime Democratic demand for defense-non-defense spending “parity,” but that’s not clear. The GOP says non-defense discretionary is $787 billion, a 7.9% increase, which is on top of the $4.6 trillion Congress has already spent over two years….
The domestic accounts include increases for food stamps, heating assistance, Pell grants and Head Start. The bill provides a $25 million funding boost for the National Labor Relations Board, which now exists to harass business on behalf of Big Labor. There’s a 30% increase for the Child Care and Development Block Grant Program, which the left hopes to build into a universal entitlement.
Republicans are boasting about a symbolic $275 million cut to the IRS’s annual budget—but that’s a drop in the $80 billion gusher bestowed on the agency in August. The overall discretionary pot holds as much as $16 billion in earmarks—including $656 million in parting gifts for retiring Senate Appropriations Vice Chairman Richard Shelby….
The political process here is as bad as most of the policy. Major changes in law deserve their own debate and vote. Instead, a handful of powerful legislators wrote this vast bill in a backroom. Members can use the need to fund the government as an excuse to say they supported, or opposed, specific provisions as future politics demands.
This didn’t have to be. Congress could pass a short-term funding bill and kick this mess to next year when the GOP House would have more leverage. A few Republicans are suggesting they may try to delay a Senate vote, and please do. For trying to stick the country with this omnibus, Congress should miss Christmas.
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More…
The U.S. Department of Mascara – WSJ
The omnibus bill gives the FDA new power to police the beauty aisle, since it did so well with baby formula.
By The Editorial Board, Dec. 20, 2022 – Excerpts:
Some 3,500 pages into the bill arrives the “Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022,” and by “modernization” Congress means giving the federal bureaucracy more power. Peddlers of lotions and lip gloss now will have to register their facilities, report “adverse events,” and abide by stipulated manufacturing practices. Another section establishes new labeling requirements. The FDA will have power to issue mandatory recalls.
The FDA already has enforcement options to deal with adulterated or misbranded cosmetics, and its regulations preclude or limit certain ingredients such as mercury compounds. Many in the agency will welcome their new power, but note that an FDA official told Congress in 2019: “We believe that most cosmetics on the market in the United States are indeed safe, and in our experience, most firms are responsible actors—they care about consumer safety and the reputations of their brands, and in those rare cases when safety issues do arise, many firms work with us cooperatively to address them.”…
The agency struggles mightily to approve in a timely fashion new drugs that save lives, and the FDA recently failed to head off a nationwide shortage of baby formula, for heaven’s sake. It won’t perform better once it spends more time and money policing eye shadow.
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The 18 Republican Senators who supported this Omnibus monstrosity should further explain how this $1.7 trillion spending bill will aid in the Fed’s battle to bring inflation under control:
Big Spending Bill Is A Big Problem For The Fed’s Inflation Fight -Dec 27, 2022
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Here is a full list of Republican senators who voted in favor of the bill:
- Roy Blunt (Missouri)
- John Boozman (Arkansas)
- Shelley Capito (West Virginia)
- Susan Collins (Maine)
- John Cornyn (Texas)
- Tom Cotton (Arkansas)
- Lindsey Graham (South Carolina)
- Jim Inhofe (Oklahoma)
- Mitch McConnell (Kentucky)
- Jerry Moran (Kansas)
- Lisa Murkowski (Alaska)
- Rob Portman (Ohio)
- Mitt Romney (Utah)
- Mike Rounds (South Dakota)
- Richard Shelby (Alabama)
- John Thune (South Dakota)
- Roger Wicker (Mississippi)
- Todd Young (Indiana)
These 18 Senators, this day, have a golden opportunity to redeem themselves with a new plan for America….
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