budget committee

In another example of the hypocrisy we see from the GOP, let’s have a look at that old “demon pass”:

Emphasis added. Back in March 2010, House Democrats were toying with using a similar process to pass health care reform. They were considering the Senate health care package, which they hated, and a package of amendments to that bill, which they liked. To square those views, they wanted to set up a procedural vote, which, if agreed to, would "deem" both bills passed at once. "Deem" and "pass."

This quickly became known as "Demon Pass," or the "Slaughter Solution," named after House Rules Chair Louise Slaughter. Republicans rebelled, and conservatives went off the deep end. Radio talk show host Mark Levin called it "100 times worse than Watergate."

Remember this? It was only a year ago and all the GOP and conservative media went bonkers, declaring it unconstitutional and even going as far as to call it “worse than Watergate”.  John Boehner even gave a few teary eyed appearences over it. But that has all changed. We now have a new Congress and the party of whiners is now the party in control, so:

Welcome back to the so-called "Demon Pass", which is scheduled to make its return to the Capitol Hill on January 5.

When all the debate was going on about funding the Iraq war, the right was out there accusing the Democrats of preventing money from going through that provides our troops with these bomb resistant vehicles. All we heard from that side is how the Democrats were putting our troops in harms way.

Well this war is almost 4 1/2 years old, and NOW Bush is requesting money for bomb resistant vehicles:

The White House is asking Congress for $5.3 billion (€3.9 billion) for new vehicles that would be better able to withstand roadside bombs in Iraq.

The $5.3 billion (€3.9 billion) request for the vehicles, with V-shaped undercarriages to deflect roadside blasts, would help get production lines humming at full capacity.

Tuesday's request comes on top of $5.6 billion (€4.1 billion) already approved for 6,400 mine resistant vehicles and would be added to the Pentagon's $141.7 billion (€103.4 billion) request for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan for the budget year beginning Oct. 1. The additional money would help pay for those vehicles and buy another 1,520 of them, Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England told the House of Representatives Budget Committee earlier Tuesday.

So again the White House and their little lap dogs on the right lied to the American people. It wasn't the Democrats holding up protection for our troops - it was the administrations piss poor planning AGAIN! Almost 3,700 soldiers dead in Iraq and NOW we are worrying about these vehicles? They might end up getting them by the time our 44th President takes office.

In some good news, well at least for the time being, the House has done away
with the ANWR drilling tonight.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican leaders in the U.S. House of
Representatives abandoned, at least temporarily, a drive to open Alaska's
National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling after concluding on Wednesday the
initiative was threatening passage of a huge bill to cut spending.

"ANWR and OCS will be out" of the legislation, said House Budget
Committee Chairman Jim Nussle, an Iowa Republican.

Besides the Alaska oil drilling initiative, the House spending-reduction
bill had also called for opening outer-continental shelf, or offshore areas,
to oil and gas drilling.

The proposals had drawn opposition from Democrats and two dozen or so
Republicans in the House.

The Senate approved the controversial ANWR proposal last week when it
passed $35 billion in spending cuts over five years. That measure estimates
the U.S. government would raise about $2.4 billion in leasing fees if
industry was allowed to develop the refuge's 10.4 billion barrels of crude.

Environmentalists have opposed expanding oil drilling to the sensitive
area in Alaska and some Florida congressmen have worked to kill the offshore
oil and gas drilling plan. Both projects have been a high priority of U.S.
oil companies.

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I can't help but think there's some other motive for this. It very well could
be an attempt to try and recover a little bit in popularity but with these
corrupt GOP leaders you never know.