When Pigs Fly – The 2022 Omnibus Spending Bill
You may have forgotten that in March the 2022 Omnibus Spending bill was signed by President Biden after clearing both chambers of Congress.
The House passed the bill on two separate votes, one for defense spending and the other for non-defense. The vote for the first part passed 361-69, the vote for non-defense was 260-171. Defense related spending increased 5.6%, other spending is up 6.7%.
The Senate passed the bill on a 68-31 vote.
5 months into the fiscal year, the 2,700-page, $1.5 trillion omnibus budget bill contains all 12 fiscal 2022 spending bills plus $13.6 billion in appropriations to provide aid and weapons to Ukraine. (Congress added another $40B to Ukraine last month.
The bill covers what are called the ‘discretionary’ budget items. The so-called ‘mandatory’ budget, including social security, welfare payments, and interest payments ($832B) totals nearly $4T which Congress does not vote on. That piece is expected to grow to over $5T in the next few years as more people retire and claim benefits.
The 2022 planned budget deficit is over $1T, that coupled with the nearly $2T in additional COVID relief passed in February 2021 and the $1.2T infrastructure bill last November – both not in the budget – will bring the national debt to over $33T by October.
Bottom line, it’s another fiscally irresponsible budget/spending year by our federal government.
But that’s not the whole story.
In passing the 2021 budget in February 2021, the Democratic Congress re-introduced earmarks to the process after Congress had eliminated them in 2011.
Examples of the ‘earmarks’ shoved into the 2022 Omnibus Spending bill include:
- $3,000,000 for the “Palo Alto History Museum” which will “showcase the legacy of innovation and remarkable heritage that are unique to Palo Alto.”
- $142,500 for Las Vegas bike-share bikes. The program “gives you access to some of the best restaurants, shopping and attractions in Las Vegas!”
- $800,000 for “artist lofts” in Pamona, CA.
- $3,000,000 for a Gandhi Museum in Texas.
- $496,000 for a local swimming pool in Yonkers, NY.
- $3,200,000 for a local bike path in Rhode Island.
- $2,000,000 for “Reducing Inequity in Access to Solar Power” in Delaware.
- $2,000,000 for new soccer fields in Anaheim, CA.
- $500,000 for a ski jump in New Hampshire.
- $150,000 to “collect body mass index data school-wide and use that information to encourage young people to stay physically active” in the Northern Mariana Islands.
- $500,000 for a soccer field in New Jersey.
- $488,000 for the township of North Bergen, NJ for “Municipal Traffic Calming.”
- $750,000 for a baseball field in Lowell, MA.
- $209,000 for a “Creative Village Affordable Housing and Studio Complex for Artists” in Decatur, GA.
- $1.1 million for “Soccer Complex Facility Improvements” in Rhode Island.
- $400,000 for a local bike trail in McAllen, TX.
- $1.6 million for “Equitable Growth of Shellfish Aquaculture Industry in Rhode Island.”
Listed above are just a few of the earmarks included in the bill. There’s actually more than 4,000 of them, covering 87 pages. Leadership gave members 2 days to review the nearly 3,000-page bill with no time for review or deliberation. Most members voted ‘blind.’
A series of embarrassing scandals (remember the “Bridge to Nowhere”) led to federal earmarks being banned back in 2011. Led at that time by the Tea Party, with some bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress, the earmark ban stood for a more than a decade, despite occasional talk of ending or revising it.
But with Democrats now in control of the House and prevailing ever so narrowly in the Senate, earmarks have finally made their comeback, and with a bipartisan vengeance.
As an indication of how the sentiment has changed, an amendment offered by Indiana Republican Senator Mike Braun to strip home-state earmarks out of the appropriations was defeated handily by a bipartisan vote of 35-64 in the Senate.
Pork, pork, pork – with both Parties loving it and taking advantage of the onslaught to spend more of the money we don’t have for pet projects.
The pigs are flying again in Congress.
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Have a great and prosperous week.
Hug somebody.
References:
https://catalyst.independent.org/2021/04/28/congress-corrupt-earmarks-congressional/
https://www.atr.org/list-of-earmarks-in-omnibus/
SPIDER Bites
Mo Donegal won the 154th running of the Belmont Stakes Saturday. Derby winner Rich Strike finished 6th among the 9 horses.
Even the San Francisco liberals believe their DA was too much so, so they recalled him last Tuesday.
After an armed man was arrested last week with the alleged plan to assassinate a Supreme Court Justice and his family, illegal protesters outside his home are not arrested. What is this?
The LIV Golf Invitational Series kicked off Thursday at the Centurion Club in London. 48 high-profile pro golfers have joined the new group, primarily funded by the Saudis. With Greg Norman at the helm, it’s an obvious threat to the PGA. Time will tell how this new pro golf group shakes out with the fans.
The Summit of the Americas meeting in LA kicked off last week. A number of countries are not represented, including Mexico, so don’t expect anything significant to happen with anything.
You may recall China launching its own space station last year. Last Sunday it launched a crew to significantly expand the inside space capabilities and operations – and to prepare for adding an additional two modules to the station next month. BTW, China plans to build a manned, research base on the moon.
Last Monday President Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to accelerate domestic production of solar panel parts, in an effort to “spur domestic manufacturing.” The Defense Production Act was first enacted in 1950 as a response to the Korean War and has since been re-invoked more than 50 times since – this being the 19th time already for President Biden. Solar panels and wind turbines appear to be our current priority national defense strategy.
BTW, most emissions of CO2 are natural – from the oceans and volcanoes. Humans burning fossil fuels add between 3-5% of the total emitted. Look it up. https://www.quora.com/How-large-are-natural-CO2-emissions-compared-to-human-CO2-emissions/answer/John-Walker-922
The price of crude oil closed the week at $120.47. In January 2021 a barrel sold for $58.31. That’s 100+% more – while they tell us inflation hit 8.6% last month.
GM unveiled its all-electric Cadillac Celestiq last week. With front and rear LED lighting and its luxury components the car is expected to retail at around $200,000.
From toilet paper to yogurt and coffee to corn chips, manufacturers are shrinking package sizes. Examples: a small box of Kleenex now has 60 tissues rather than 65 – and Chobani Flips yogurt packages have shrunk from 5.3 ounces to 4.5 ounces. It’s a way to not raise prices on what seems like the same product.
While most corporate earnings forecasts are still positive, the markets are bracing for a downturn in those forecasts. Some analysts are predicting zero earnings if we enter official recession in Q2 this year.
Did you know that wind turbines generate their maximum electrical generation at 25 MPH, but cut out – shut down – if the wind speed exceeds that?
Are global warming and white supremacy the biggest threats we are facing? Ask yourself that question in the context of Thursday night’s prime time, choreographed “public hearing” of the partisan, no dissent allowed, January 6 House Committee into an obviously poorly executed, unarmed ‘insurrection.’ I couldn’t help but think I was living in an authoritative, state-controlled media country.
