MILLER: Inside the 1,200-page omnibus. Spending still goes up in 2012.
Our Republican Leadership is making some progress at controlling spending, but much less than we had expected.
[Editor's Note: Emily Miller is a very solid journalist who I trust. Griff Jenkins from Fox News introduced us at CPAC 2010 and I have been a student of her good work ever since.]
Emily Miller at the Washington Times:
Congressional Republican leaders are crowing that they cut discretionary spending in the ginormous omnibus spending bill. In fact, spending will go up in 2012 because of smoke-and-mirrors budget games that have become commonplace on Capitol Hill. A 1,200-page piece of legislation filed late the night before the vote continues to be the unfortunate way politicians operate.
On Friday, the House passed the $1 trillion omnibus spending bill to fund government for the current fiscal year, averting a midnight shutdown. The last-minute conference report, which then passed the Senate on Saturday, prevents any more of the budget dramas for the remaining nine-and-a-half months of the fiscal year.
The bill took advantage of every red cent in discretionary spending allowed under the Budget Control Act (BCA), which was part of the August deal to increase the debt ceiling by $2.1 trillion. Final spending for 2012 came in exactly at the statutory limit of $7 billion less than fiscal year 2011, but that was quickly wiped out by gimmicks.
Read more HERE.