After the Senate Democrats were poised to shut down the government in order to get funding for the water crisis in Flint, MI, the Republicans once again surrendered to the Democrats on everything in a $1.07 trillion spending bill, which was beyond the $1.04 trillion cap set forth in the 2011 Budget Control Act.
Here are five programs they funded.
1. Planned Parenthood. The Republicans allowed for $1.1 billion in funding to deal with the Zika virus to be used to fund Planned Parenthood, which is not nearly as well-equipped to handle the virus as other federal health centers. Planned Parenthood is also an evil organization that sells baby parts for profit.
The House Appropriations Committee has attempted to spin this by claiming that there’s “no direct funding for Planned Parenthood,” but as CNS News points out, Planned Parenthood will be eligible for the funding under Title X. National Right to Life was silent on this.
2. A bailout to the Flint local government to deal with their water crisis. The budget contains an amendment that will force the House to approve $170 million to Flint once the election is over. There are three problems, as The Daily Signal‘s Sondra Clark points out:
1. It uses federal tax dollars for something that should be appropriated at the state level.
2. It authorizes federal dollars at a time when the nation is nearly $20 trillion in debt.
3. It sets the precedent of allowing liberal lawmakers to take bad spending bills hostage until they receive even more.
3. President Barack Obama’s executive order on transgender bathrooms. Back in May, the Obama administration threatened to strip away federal funding to schools that didn’t allow men to use women’s restrooms and vice-versa. Not only is this a delusional denial of basic science, it is also a destructive policy given how some perverted men have taken advantage of it in the past. And yet the GOP caved and have funded this initiative in the latest budget.
4. Two of the Democrats’ key immigration initiatives. The budget funds both sanctuary cities and Obama’s executive amnesty, which is particularly disturbing in light of a recent report showing that crime has surged in sanctuary cities.
5. There are no policy riders to stem the flow of refugees or prevent the Internet from falling into the hands of foreign nations. A couple of the more conservative House members had agreed to increase the spending levels to $1.07 trillion in exchange for riders to improve screening of Syrian refugees and stop the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) from having jurisdiction over the Internet in October, but the Senate bill didn’t include either of these riders. And yet again, the Republicans completely capitulated to the Democrats.
(h/t: Conservative Review)