http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2013/07/10/Why-Congress-Should-Scrap-Big-Fat-Pork-Laden-Bills.aspx#page1
Here’s a shocking thought: maybe Congress isn’t so dysfunctional after all. Maybe it is actually executing the will of the people – people fed up with pay-offs and handouts, pork and piggishness — Congress’ “business as usual” cronyism. Obamacare put them over the edge.
Americans have resolutely opposed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – aka Obamacare – since its inception, but Congress passed it anyway. Not only was the public rightly wary of the government’s upending of one sixth of our economy – a dangerous act of hubris in the midst of a terrible recession – they were also appalled at how the monstrous bill passed.
They were disgusted by the $100 million Cornhusker Kickback that won Senator Ben Nelson’s vote, the $300 million Louisiana Purchase that swayed Mary Landrieu, the malfeasance of legislators who blindly voted for the unread 1,000-page bill. They knew Obamacare was a stinker from the get-go, and they punished those who rammed it down their throats in 2010, electing a GOP House by a vast margin.
It is not surprising that the House, so elected, might hold fast the lessons of 2010. Among other things, they are allergic to big, fat indigestible bills. When 179 Republicans voted against the $70 billion Sandy Relief bill, the usual suspects were outraged, blasting Tea Party intransigence. But Senator Kelly Ayotte argued persuasively in an op-ed why she voted “no,” describing the bill’s hidden pork – the millions and billions snuck in to fix a leaky roof at the Smithsonian, for new cars for the FBI, and for highway repairs across the country. She had earlier supported a $24 billion package that actually targeted Sandy victims, but that bill was defeated. As she pointed out, the Sandy package ultimately ended up costing more than the annual Homeland Security budget. Imagine that.
