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Politics : American Presidential Politics and foreign affairs -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Peter Dierks who wrote (33139)	2/24/2009 9:32:04 AM
From: Peter Dierks	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71588

Obama to be responsible for over $1.5 Trillion of the current fiscal year deficit House Democrats propose $410B spending bill House bill to keep govt. running totals $410 billion, features thousands of pork projects David Espo, AP Special Correspondent Tuesday February 24, 2009, 8:50 am EST WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Democrats unveiled a $410 billion spending bill on Monday to keep the government running through the end of the fiscal year, setting up the second political struggle over federal funds in less than a month with Republicans. The measure includes thousands of earmarks, the pork projects favored by lawmakers but often criticized by the public in opinion polls. There was no official total of the bill's earmarks, which accounted for at least $3.8 billion. The legislation, which includes an massive increase of roughly 8 percent over spending in the last fiscal year, is expected to clear the House later in the week. Republicans pointed out that the spending in the bill far outpaced inflation, and amounted to much higher increases when combined with spending in the stimulus legislation that President Barack Obama signed last week. In a letter to top Democratic leaders, the GOP leadership called for a spending freeze, a step they said would point toward a "new standard of fiscal discipline." The bill advanced less than one week after Obama signed the $787 billion economic stimulus bill (Porkulus) that all Republicans in Congress opposed except for three liberal GOP senators. Apart from spending, the legislation is provides Democrats in Congress and Obama an opportunity to reverse long standing policy on selected issues. It loosens restrictions on travel to Cuba, as well as the sale of food and medicine to the communist island-nation. In another change, the legislation bans Mexican-licensed trucks from operating outside commercial zones along the border with the United States. The Teamsters Union, which supported Obama's election last year, pushed for the move. The Bush administration backed a pilot program to permit up to 500 trucks from 100 Mexican motor carriers access to U.S. roads. The legislation covers programs for numerous Cabinet-level and other agencies, and takes the place of regular annual spending bills that did not pass last year as a result of a deadlock between the Bush administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress. Congressional expenses are included. The bill provides $500,000 for what is described as a Senate "pilot program" that will defray the cost of mass mail postcards to households notifying them of a nearby town meeting to be attended by any senator. finance.yahoo.com