Reuters reports, “Senate Democrats on Tuesday unveiled an earmark-laden spending bill that would fund the entire U.S. government, and Republicans who have renounced the pet spending projects quickly vowed to oppose it. The 2,000-page spending bill, months overdue, would enable President Barack Obama to tighten financial oversight, subsidize college tuition bills and move forward with other priorities that have essentially been on hold since the fiscal year began in October.” The Wall Street Journal points out the omnibus bill “would lay down $1.1 trillion to fund the various arms of the departments and agencies of the federal government through September 2011, when the government’s current fiscal year will end.” The WSJ also notes, “The spending bill is necessary because lawmakers failed to pass any of the 12 budget bills required each year to fund the various arms of the federal government.”

Senate Republicans swiftly announced their opposition to the bloated bill last night. The WSJ writes, “Most Republicans in the Senate are expected to be united in opposition to the bill, preferring instead another short-term measure to fund the government through the early months of next year. ‘The attempt by Democrat leadership to rush through a nearly 2,000 page spending bill in the final days of the lame-duck session ignores the clear will expressed by the voters this past election,’ said Sen. John Thune (R., S.D.), a member of the Senate Republican leadership.”

Speaking on the Senate floor today, Republican Leader Mike Mitch McConnell made the case against the Democrats’ omnibus bill: “Americans told Democrats last month to stop what they’ve been doing: bigger government, 2,000-page bills jammed through on Christmas Eve, wasteful spending. This bill is a monument to all three.” He added, “It includes more than $1 billion to fund the Democrat health care bill. For those of us who’ve vowed to repeal it, this alone is reason to oppose to Omnibus.”

Jennifer Rubin has details on the funding for the unpopular health care bill at her Washington Post blog. The $1 billion includes $3 million for one of the many boards, bureaucracies, and programs created by the law, $175 million to implement the Medicaid expansion and cuts to Medicare Advantage, and over $80 million for the Department of Health and Human Services’ Departmental Management account, to enforce the new insurance mandates and regulations created in the law.”

Gallup has a new poll today finding, “Americans’ assessment of Congress has hit a new low, with 13% saying they approve of the way Congress is handling its job. The 83% disapproval rating is also the worst Gallup has measured in more than 30 years of tracking congressional job performance.” Clearly, Americans are sick of the way Democrats are doing things and fed up with their lame duck agenda of putting off things like preventing tax hikes for a liberal wish list.

Related:

Rasmussen Reports: Support for Tax Cut Deal Down

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