As Twitchy told you earlier, GOP Sen. Rand Paul was struggling under the weight of the 2200-plus page, $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill. The bill has since passed the in the House, thanks in no small part to the supposed fiscal conservatives, many of whom were only too happy to pass it before finding out what was in it.
House leaders have scheduled this vote to occur less than 17 hours after the bill was made available.@SpeakerRyan and @NancyPelosi agree: “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.” https://t.co/PGz6QOKhhw
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) March 22, 2018
It’s too late for House Republicans to read the damn thing, but Paul’s giving it the old college try.
This is the good @RandPaul today, where's he been at??!!
— ConservativeBlackMan ???? (@NevilleD35) March 22, 2018
This is where he’s at now:
1. On page 207. 2000+ pages to go! Reading about the ever wasteful $6 billion National Science Foundation.
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2018
2. Remember the $350,000 NSF spent asking if japanese quail are more sexually promiscuous on cocaine?
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2018
3. Reading this monstrous bill full of grant programs begun decades ago reminds me of Reagan’s critique: the nearest thing to immortality is a government program.
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2018
Page 226 of terrible, no good, rotten deficit spending bill.
I found a kernel of hope: “no funds in this act will be used to support or justify torture."
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2018
Page 240 good news for states rights:
no funds will be spent to prevent any state’s medical marijuana initiatives.
Thank you Congr. Rohrbacher
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2018
Page 278. (1954 to go!)
$961 million to destroy our chemical weapons. Who was it, exactly, who convinced our government to pay billions to develop weapons we now find deplorable?
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2018
Page 281 of “crumni-bus”.
CIA retirement funding. Wouldn’t it be great to amend out the retirement benefits of Trump hater John Brennan and Congressional dissembler James Clapper? pic.twitter.com/rRG6qGKcx6
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2018
Are you pissed off yet? Because there’s plenty more where that came from:
Here are a few more highlights:
o $1m for the Cultural Antiquities Task Force
o $6.25m for the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation
o $20m for Countering Foreign State Propaganda
o $12m for Countering State Disinformation and Pressure— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2018
o $5m for Vietnam Education Foundation Grants
o $2.579m for Commission on Security and Co-operation in Europe
o $15m to USAID for promoting international higher education between universities
o $2.696bn for International Disaster Assistance— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2018
o $1.371bn for Contributions to International Organizations
o $51m to promote International Family Planning and Reproductive Health
o $7m promoting International Conservation
o $10m for UN Environmental Programs— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2018
o $1m for the World Meteorological Organization
o $218m for Promoting Democracy Development in Europe (yep..the birthplace of democracy needs promoting)
o $25m for International Religious Freedom
o $10m for disadvantaged Egyptian Students— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2018
o $12m for Scholarships for Lebanon
o $20m for Middle East Partnership Initiative Scholarship Program
o $12m in military funding for Vietnam
o $3.5m in nutrition assistance to Laos
o $15m in Developmental assistance to China
o $10m for Women LEOs in Afghanistan— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2018
Pathetic.
We shouldn’t have to.
So we have a Republican Congress and the "most conservative President in decades" according to the TrueCons, and we get a budget busting omnibus, trillion dollars deficits as far as the eye can see, and we get to keep Obamacare?!?! pic.twitter.com/eunxQxaoPW
— ConservativeBlackMan ???? (@NevilleD35) March 22, 2018
Where does one go if they don't wanna be a Democrat, don't like what Trump represents, and don't like that the GOP is led by spineless jellyfishmen who can't cut one dime from the ever increasing Federal budget?
— ConservativeBlackMan ???? (@NevilleD35) March 22, 2018
I mean, can we at least get Ryan, Trump, and McConnell to stop funding the Planned Parenthood butcher shop?
— ConservativeBlackMan ???? (@NevilleD35) March 22, 2018
Nope. Even that’s too much to ask.
Think about it, we had a budget cap that purposefully held down spending, and they said nope, let's get rid of that too?!?! These are Republicans we're talking about here… pic.twitter.com/ORfCIYnBYa
— ConservativeBlackMan ???? (@NevilleD35) March 22, 2018
When the next Democrat takes office, what legs are we conservatives gonna have to stand on to complain about spending???
We're supposed to be the spend less party last I checked. Good times— ConservativeBlackMan ???? (@NevilleD35) March 22, 2018
Guess those days are over.
https://twitter.com/JesseKellyDC/status/976900984109748226
Or at least what most of them are missing.
Instead of putting my entire omnibus statement on twitter, I'll save you the trouble and just say that the bill was awful, the process was even worse, and I voted against it. If you want to read more you're welcome to check out https://t.co/Z0CZbPktpF
— Rep. Jeff Duncan (@RepJeffDuncan) March 22, 2018
I voted 'no' on the Omnibus, because this spending bill doesn’t just forget the promises we made to the voters—it flatly rejects them.
This is not the limited government conservatism that our voters demand. pic.twitter.com/EYikeGUx3u
— Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) March 22, 2018
***
Update:
Sen. Paul’s still going:
on page 355. NSA prohibited from targeting US persons with FISA 702 program.
sounds good —but — privacy advocates fear that NSA still does back-door targeting of US persons.
Courageous Senator Wyden has asked how many US persons caught up in supposedly foreign data base.
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2018
But Brennan and Clapper too busy spewing hatred of Trump to respond to legitimate requests.
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2018
Page 357. Sec. 8116 no funds can be used in Iraq in contravention of the War Powers Act
sounds good but . . . haven’t we been back in Iraq at war against new foes without any new congressional authorization?
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2018
Page 348 of terrible, rotten, no-good budget busting bill, a nugget that I wish we obeyed
sec. 8103: none of the funds may be used in contravention of the War Powers Act
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2018
hmm . . . that would mean we shouldn’t be spending $ in undeclared wars in Yemen, Libya, Niger, Somalia, Afghanistan
wonder why the party that talks about the rule of law, doesn’t obey the rule of law?
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2018
and I’m STILL reading. This bill is no @bradthor thriller.
Page 365:
Overseas contingency operations. aka military slush fund that circumvents budget caps.
All told, we’ve spent over a trillion dollars in this budget busting category.
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2018
Page 376 of terrible, rotten, no-good budget busting bill:
I found it! I found it! Border security, what President Trump wanted!
no . . .wait a minute section says Defense can spend what funds it determines to enhance the border security of Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, and Tunisia
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2018
eyes getting tired but really someone should read this beast.
Page 392 sec 9007: no $ shall be spent “for the permanent stationing of US forces in Afghanistan”
Wonder what they meant by permanent? Some might argue that after 16 years we approaching the definition of permanent.
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2018
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