Agorism
12-17-2010, 01:06 PM
Sen. Durbin blasts GOP horror at $1.1 trillion: ‘That’s exactly the amount they asked for’ (http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/sen-durbin-slams-gop-horror-11-trillion-thats-amount-asked-for/)
Senate Republicans have been expressing outrage over the $1.1 trillion allotted to the government in the omnibus spending bill, but the number should not come as a surprise.
In January, Republicans proposed a $1.1 trillion cap for the 2011 fiscal year to fight "Washington's voracious appetite for spending." Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) reminded them of the fact on the Senate floor Thursday, saying it's true there is "$1.1 trillion in this bill" but "that's exactly the amount that they asked for."
"Senator McConnell came to the Senate Appropriations Committee and said Republicans will not support this bill unless you bring the spending down to $1.108 trillion," he continued. "That is exactly what we bring down to the floor to be considered."
"So to stand back in horror and look at $1.1 trillion and say where did this figure come from, it came from Senator Mitch McConnell in a motion he made before the Senate Appropriations Committee. It's the same number as the so-called Sessions-McCaskill figure that's been debated back and forth on this floor, voted repeatedly by Republicans to be the appropriate total number."
The bipartisan Sessions-McCaskill spending cap limits defense-discretionary spending to $564,293,000,000 and nondefense-discretionary spending to $529,662,000,000 in the 2011 fiscal year: a total of nearly 1.1 trillion dollars.
Senate Republicans have been expressing outrage over the $1.1 trillion allotted to the government in the omnibus spending bill, but the number should not come as a surprise.
In January, Republicans proposed a $1.1 trillion cap for the 2011 fiscal year to fight "Washington's voracious appetite for spending." Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) reminded them of the fact on the Senate floor Thursday, saying it's true there is "$1.1 trillion in this bill" but "that's exactly the amount that they asked for."
"Senator McConnell came to the Senate Appropriations Committee and said Republicans will not support this bill unless you bring the spending down to $1.108 trillion," he continued. "That is exactly what we bring down to the floor to be considered."
"So to stand back in horror and look at $1.1 trillion and say where did this figure come from, it came from Senator Mitch McConnell in a motion he made before the Senate Appropriations Committee. It's the same number as the so-called Sessions-McCaskill figure that's been debated back and forth on this floor, voted repeatedly by Republicans to be the appropriate total number."
The bipartisan Sessions-McCaskill spending cap limits defense-discretionary spending to $564,293,000,000 and nondefense-discretionary spending to $529,662,000,000 in the 2011 fiscal year: a total of nearly 1.1 trillion dollars.