Key Vote NO on the Omnibus Spending Bill

As one of our millions of FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to contact your Members of Congress and urge them to vote NO on the omnibus appropriations bill.  The omnibus is being offered as a substitute amendment to H.R. 3547.

The spending levels in this bill reflect the Ryan/Murray budget deal that was reached in December, spending $45 billion above the budget caps established back in 2011.  Breaking the sequestration spending caps disregards the only real spending reform that Republicans had achieved since retaking the House, and continues to demonstrate Congress’ compulsive inability to stop spending money they don’t have.

Even more disturbing than the spending levels in the bill is the process surrounding its creation and leading towards its passage.  The appropriators who crafted this bill did so in absolute secrecy, preventing any meddlesome outsiders from nagging them about the spending tweaks and program changes they tucked into a 1,500 page bill.  These include increases in spending on pre-K education and Pell grants, a delay on rate increases for flood insurance, and a host of other small projects.

This mammoth bill will then receive a vote in the House less than 48 hours after being made public, meaning that most Members of Congress will have little to no chance to actually know what all is in the bill before voting on it.  Perhaps the expectation is that they pass it to find out what is in it?  Of course, even if Members had time to read the bill, they will not be allowed to do anything about it, as no amendments will be allowed.

In sum, House leaders have written a 1,500-page, trillion-dollar, sequester-scrapping spending bill in secret, given Members and the public barely a day to read it, and shut down all amendments. These are Pelosi tactics, not the “transparent” government and “regular order” Republicans promised.

For these reasons, I urge you to call your representative and senators and ask them to vote NO on the omnibus spending bill. We will count their vote as a KEY VOTE when calculating FreedomWorks’ Economic Freedom Scorecard for 2014. The Scorecard is used to determine eligibility for the FreedomFighter Award, which recognizes Members of Congress who consistently vote to support economic freedom.

Sincerely,

Matt Kibbe

President and CEO 

FreedomWorks