Last week I posted about the omnibus spending bill being proposed by Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada to counter holds placed on about 100 bills by Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn. Apparently a group called Americans for Limited Government agrees with my assessment:
Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson called upon all Republican Senators to join Senator Tom Coburn’s (R-OK) filibuster against a $25 billion omnibus bill that will combine over 100 pieces of legislation into one and change Senate rules.
“The economy is very sick, and it is sick because of the excessive spending and debt that Congress creates year in and year out,” said Wilson in a statement. “Our overall financial system is teetering on the brink of ruin, the dollar is collapsing, prices are soaring, inflation is on the rise, and the national debt has never been larger.”
“This is no coincidence,” said Wilson. “All roads lead back to Washington on the current economic crisis, because Congress keeps on spending. Their response to every crisis is to spend more. A $25 billion omnibus bill here. A $300 billion bank bailout there. A $150 billion economic ‘stimulus’ package. It never ends.”
Wilson explained, “The problem is that Congress’ spending habits – they spend more than they take in revenue – further increase the money supply and the national debt, directly causing the economy’s downward spiral to continue. They call it ‘stimulus,’ but really it’s cyanide for our economy and our future.”
“Enough is enough,” he added. “This is why it is imperative that all Republicans in the Senate join Senator Tom Coburn’s filibuster of the $25 billion omnibus bill.”
(snip)
“Right now, (Senator Coburn)’s the true conscience of the Senate.”
Coburn did make a counteroffer to Reid in this letter, but the more important point is that only 20 Senators have signed on, out of the 41 who would be required to make a filibuster stand. It’s sort of shameful that more Senators won’t back up Coburn in his fight, but not completely unexpected.
This also brings up another point. A friend of mine lent me the book Upstream: The Ascendance of American Conservatism by Alfred Regnery. One portion of the book deals with the number of conservative organizations which have sprung up over the years, and with the birth and maturity of the internet far more small groups can be created. That appears to be the case with the ALG group I’m quoting from here, quite the small and, before maybe a week ago, unknown to me outfit who’s looking for donations to keep them going (but not in this particular release, which was refreshing.)
I sometimes wonder if the splintering of resources is a good thing for the conservative movement, but then again I’m sort of in their same position where not a lot of people have read what I have to say compared to the whole of conservative media. Unless you’re one of the big boys, chances are that your membership or readership exists only in the hundreds or low thousands. We are all advancing pretty much the same ideas, though – when the Coburn item caught my attention because of my Patriot Post affiliation it also drew my ire and inspired me to post. And thanks to the ALG group I came across the Coburn letter and a little more background information.
(By the way, Patriot Post printed my contribution on Friday, it’s called “Big Three Strains Under Big Labor.” I have more to say about that later this week.)
But I’m glad to help out some of these smaller outfits in getting their word out. After all, the more information that makes it outside the parameters set by the drive-by media the better Americans are informed to make educated decisions – and if they’re educated chances are they see things similarly as I, or at least can present a cogent argument against my point.
Thanks for noting your spot in the Patriot Post. I have wondered what you’ve written in there. Would you consider keeping us posted regarding your contributions?