While liberals have led the charge against the new spending bill, many conservative Republicans are opposed to the proposal because it does little to address spending cuts, doesn't challenge President Obama's executive action on immigration and leaves the Affordable Care Act intact.
The 1,603-page spending bill, proposed on the heels of a momentous victory in the midterms for Republicans, addresses a number of key conservative-supported changes, including the undoing of a provision of the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory overhaul that would loosen restrictions on the use of exotic investments known as derivatives by banks. It also proposes to increase the ceiling for campaign contributions by wealthy couples.
But the spending bill's shortcomings far outweigh its benefits, as far as several conservative groups are concerned. Both Heritage Action and Club for Growth, two key conservative advocacy organizations, have campaigned against the $1.01 trillion bill for its lack of spending cuts, and failure to defund both the president's immigration order and the Affordable Care Act.
From a conservative standpoint, this amounts to a betrayal (as exemplified by right-wing news site Drudge Report's lead headline from earlier this week).
"Christmas has come early for the big spenders in Congress who have been experiencing long-term withdrawal from the earmark ban," the Club for Growth said in a statement urging its members to vote against the bill.
The Affordable Care Act, passed in 2010, is one of Obama's major legislative victories. It has also become a key target for conservatives, who have branded it a government takeover of the health sector and demanded that it be defunded. But the current bill, although it offers no new money for the program, still promises to fund it.
Similarly, Obama's recent executive action on immigration, which promises deportation relief for millions of undocumented workers living the United States, is strongly opposed by Republicans, yet would not be upended as part of the new spending bill.
Those two realities, coupled with a budget that conservative groups have branded as being "unacceptable to fiscal conservatives," have left House Speaker John Boehner in a familiar spot: unable to corral enough members of his own party to pass a spending bill -- thus mandating the support of at least some Democrats -- and avoid a government shutdown.
The 1,603-page spending bill, proposed on the heels of a momentous victory in the midterms for Republicans, addresses a number of key conservative-supported changes, including the undoing of a provision of the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory overhaul that would loosen restrictions on the use of exotic investments known as derivatives by banks. It also proposes to increase the ceiling for campaign contributions by wealthy couples.
But the spending bill's shortcomings far outweigh its benefits, as far as several conservative groups are concerned. Both Heritage Action and Club for Growth, two key conservative advocacy organizations, have campaigned against the $1.01 trillion bill for its lack of spending cuts, and failure to defund both the president's immigration order and the Affordable Care Act.
From a conservative standpoint, this amounts to a betrayal (as exemplified by right-wing news site Drudge Report's lead headline from earlier this week).
"Christmas has come early for the big spenders in Congress who have been experiencing long-term withdrawal from the earmark ban," the Club for Growth said in a statement urging its members to vote against the bill.
The Affordable Care Act, passed in 2010, is one of Obama's major legislative victories. It has also become a key target for conservatives, who have branded it a government takeover of the health sector and demanded that it be defunded. But the current bill, although it offers no new money for the program, still promises to fund it.
Similarly, Obama's recent executive action on immigration, which promises deportation relief for millions of undocumented workers living the United States, is strongly opposed by Republicans, yet would not be upended as part of the new spending bill.
Those two realities, coupled with a budget that conservative groups have branded as being "unacceptable to fiscal conservatives," have left House Speaker John Boehner in a familiar spot: unable to corral enough members of his own party to pass a spending bill -- thus mandating the support of at least some Democrats -- and avoid a government shutdown.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.