Spending bill upsets both parties
WASHINGTON — Growing opposition among Democrats and persistent opposition from the tea party Republicans has left a $1.1 trillion government-wide spending bill teetering as many lawmakers find more in the measure to dislike than like.
Two items are particularly toxic to Democrats whose votes will be needed to pass the measure, neither of which was disclosed until late in this week’s negotiations on the bill. One would weaken the regulation of risky financial instruments and another would allow rich people to flood political parties with more cash.
A provision aimed at shoring up financially weak multiemployer pension fund was drawing fire from AARP and some union allies of Democrats over a major change in labor law that would permit plans to cut the pensions of current retirees.
At the same time, tea party Republicans remained unhappy that GOP leaders didn’t use the bill to try to block President Barack Obama’s controversial recent moves on immigration.
Many Democrats tended to focus more on the bad than the good since the 1,603-page bill was released late Tuesday. Large swaths of Republicans praised it for cutting spending for the IRS and the Environmental Protection Agency.
But Democrats won victories, too, and the alternative option is to boot the unfinished spending bills into next year, when Republicans will have retaken the Senate and bolstered their numbers in the House.
“This may be a ‘hold your nose’ vote,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va. “Do you really think next year, with Republicans entirely in control, that it would actually get better?”
The underlying measure funds the day-to-day operations of every agency of government in a year in which such so-called discretionary spending has been frozen at current levels for both domestic agencies and the Pentagon. It’s the biggest remaining item on the agenda of a lame-duck Congress that hopes to adjourn by week’s end.
