GOP leaders talk tough before Senate showdown on spending bill

[Judi Lynn]

GOP leaders talk tough before Senate showdown on spending bill

ALAN FRAM, Associated Press Writer Monday, January 19, 2004



(01-19) 22:41 PST WASHINGTON (AP) --

Mad cow disease and election-year pressures are complicating White House and Republican leadership efforts to push a long-overdue $373 billion spending bill through Congress.

The Senate was poised for a pivotal vote Tuesday, the start of the second session of the 108th Congress, on whether to end Democratic delays that have thwarted the bill's passage. GOP leaders need 60 of the Senate's 100 votes to end the roadblocks, a margin both sides say will be tough to attain.

Eager to get the long-running issue off the Senate's plate, top Republicans were pointedly reminding colleagues that the bill, which combines seven spending measures into one, contained thousands of home-state projects.

Republican leaders also were threatening that failure would mean a pared-down version would take the bill's place -- $6 billion smaller and shorn of lawmakers' projects and increases for popular programs.
(snip/...)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/01/19/national0141EST0416.DTL

[radfringe]

1. talk is cheap

but with an election year starting off, and the expected "new" programs bush* is going to push in SOTU -- will these republicans be able to fend off the neo-cons?

[Mr.Green93]

6. "talk is cheap"

not in Washington.

[Judi Lynn]

2. So the Rupublicans will be throwing cash at Bush's favorite state, Florida

From the Miami Herald:

(snip) Posted on Tue, Jan. 20, 2004

Spending bill could be windfall for S. Florida
The U.S. Senate is poised to vote on a massive spending bill that includes money for several South Florida transportation projects.
BY FRANK DAVIES
[email protected]

WASHINGTON - Motorists, bus riders, Tri-Rail users and Miami River businesses may soon get help from Congress to pay for a variety of South Florida projects.

About 20 projects, mainly in transportation, are included in a catch-all $373 billion spending bill that was approved by the House Dec. 8, just before the session ended, but delayed by the Senate.

Senate Republican leaders are scheduling a vote on the bill today when Congress returns. Senate Democrats seek to change or drop controversial provisions in the bill unrelated to the spending measures and may be able to delay a final vote.

Most of the spending in the 1,182-page bill, which wraps up seven appropriations measures, is noncontroversial. Many of the funding provisions for South Florida are for ongoing projects, such as $5.8 million for the dredging of the Miami River and $2.7 million for dredging at the Port of Miami-Dade.

Joe Ramallo, who oversees legislative affairs for Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas, said the spending bill represents a windfall for the region.
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/7750506.htm

[acmavm]

3. 'Talk' is a very cheap commodity. Action is what counts. And I don't

think that republicans can afford to allow Bush* to keep pushing his stupid economic agenda anymore. They're starting to worry about the election, they're starting to worry about the republican party, and they are very worried about a taxpayer revolt. They can see that the idiot's economic policies are crippling the country and piling up a debt that will take generations to pay off. They are starting to worry about their own hides as opposed to propping up the nutcase in the White House. And they have reason to worry. Bush is sounding pretty irrational as of late. And it's obvious that he's just coming up with all this nonsense to take the people's minds of the damage he's done. And the fact that when he campaigns he says one thing and the minute he's in office (regardless of how he gets there) he does another. He's a PROVEN liar.

This really should be interesting.

[dusty64]

4. They ought to be

worried, once again they have created a HUGE mess that Democrats will be forced to clean up.

[papau]

5. Dems MUST stop - it is full of special changes to screw poor/middle class

As always, the dirtiest crap is hidden in the spending bill.