Can Obama say NO to the Omnibus Bill ?

Most people don’t even know what this Omnibus Bill is. Well if you have followed the news at all the Omnibus Bill is the one with 9,000 earmarks in it! That’s a lot of pork. Now not all of the pork comes from one side of the isle. Both sides have loaded this bill with pork projects, to the tone of about 60% Democrat and 40% Republican.

We can’t realistically expect Congress to stop the bill. The Republicans in the Senate have managed to stall the bill, which means it will be an issue over the weekend. This is a good thing, because the more people see this mess the more they understand what a bad idea it is.

The question is, will Obama Veto the Omnibus Bill? Considering he ran on a platform of transparent politics, and stopping wasteful spending, it might be a good idea. But does Obama have the “will” to stand up to congress and say NO to an insane spending bill in the middle of an economic downturn. My guess is he does not. He has already started to backpedal again. Obama was mentioning that these pork projects were added in last year, before he was in office. Doesn’t matter, if you are going to stop the pork you have to take a stand, you can’t just let this one ride… If Obama turns his back on the American People this time, he will prove that he is just another politician.

It is also a good thing to note that Obama has had his name stricken from the record in the Bill. Some of the pork had his name on it. Yes the pork is still there, only Obama’s name is not. There is some debate over whether the measure could be called "pork", but Obama ended that debate when he pushed to have his name removed.

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&docID=news-000003062314

Congress will scrub President Obama’s name from a list of earmark cosponsors in the $410 billion omnibus spending bill.

The reason: Whether Obama cosponsored the earmark depends on what the definition of earmark is and when an earmark becomes an earmark, according to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The provision itself is still considered an earmark, and it’s staying in the bill (HR 1105) — but it’s losing the Obama brand.

As of Thursday, Obama’s name appeared along with three dozen other senators as a cosponsor of a $7.7 million line item for vocational training at two schools run by American Indian groups in New Mexico and North Dakota.

The White House objected to the characterization of the provision as an earmark — a sensitive topic, given that Obama said he didn’t request any earmarks in 2008.

Subsequently, Senate Appropriations Committee spokesman Rob Blumenthal said Obama’s name would be removed from future versions of the congressional report identifying earmarks and their sponsors. Other senators listed with him as cosponsors will be judged on a case-by-case basis.

Note: You DO NOT have to register to leave a comment.