Bluey Blog - Official Blog of Robert B. Bluey

Obey Follows DeMint’s Advice on Omnibus

Just one week ago Sen. Jim DeMint was struggling to get fellow Republicans to follow his advice on federal spending. But today it seems DeMint’s idea about how to solve the budget stalemate on Capitol Hill is picking up steam — including from the most unlikely person, House Appropriations Chairman Dave Obey.

When Obey announced yesterday that he wouldn’t bring to the House floor a mammoth omnibus spending bill because it included funding for troops and thousands of earmarks, the liberal Wisconsin Democrat sounded like he was reading from a script written by DeMint.

I want no linkage whatsoever between domestic and the war. I want the war to be dealt with totally on its own. We shouldn’t be trading off domestic priorities for the war.

Switch the order of the words in the last sentence, and that’s exactly the message DeMint delivered a week ago at the Heritage Foundation. At the time, it appeared DeMint would struggle to convince his own leadership about the importance of not taking the Democrats’ bait and voting for the combination of a mammoth omnibus and troop funding bill. Such an approach would have escalated the number of earmarks by 10,000 or more.

Comments from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell last week suggesting the GOP would cave on the spending fight raised alarm among fiscal conservatives and inspired a harsh column from Robert Novak about McConnell’s penchant for pork. In an attempt to get back in the good graces of conservatives, McConnell has said repeatedly this week that he’s standing with President Bush and House Minority Leader John Boehner on this one. An e-mail circulated by McConnell’s staff put it bluntly:

Contrary to some reports and speculation, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell agrees with House Republican Leader John Boehner and President Bush that the Democrats’ funding deal that was reported over the weekend is unacceptable.

As I wrote on Sunday for Townhall, there’s no reason McConnell shouldn’t be pushing for a continuing resolution instead of an omnibus, saving taxpayers an estimated $31 billion. With Obey unwilling to go along with his leadership to end the budget stalemate, it’s a battle the GOP should be ready to fight.