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"Rather go to bed without dinner than to rise in debt." – Benjamin Franklin
Eighteen Republican senators voted for the monstrosity known as the $1.7 trillion Omnibus spending bill, thus forever relinquishing their claim to belong to a party committed to less spending, smaller government, and personal responsibility.
The 4,100-page measure, which I can almost guarantee no one has read in its entirety, is loaded with more pork than Porky Pig carries on his overweight body.
Sen. Rand Paul, (R-KY), is among the few calling out his colleagues for their spending orgy, though few seem to care so long as they are getting their share of the largesse. In what he calls his annual "Festivus Report," Sen. Paul lists some of the financial sins committed by this Congress. They include what he called "a whopping $482,276,543,907 of waste, including a steroid-induced hamster fight club, a study to see if kids love their pets, and a study of the romantic patterns of parrots and coffee machines for the Pentagon."
That's just for starters.
The conservative Heritage Foundation lists some more.
$1.2 million for "LGBTQIA+ Pride Centers" and another $1.2 million for "support services for DACA recipients" (aka helping migrants with taxpayer funds) at San Diego Community College.
$477,000 for the Equity Institute in Rhode Island to endow teachers with "anti-racism virtual labs."
$1 million for Zora's House in Ohio, a "coworking and community space" for "women and gender-expansive people of color."
$3 million for the American LGBTQ+ Museum in New York City.
$3.6 million for a Michelle Obama Trail in Georgia.
$750,000 for "LGBTQ and Gender Non-Conforming housing" in Albany, N.Y.
$2 million for the "Great Blacks in Wax" museum in Baltimore.
$856,000 for an "LGBTQ Center" in New York.
$750,000 for the "TransLatin@ Coalition" to provide "workforce development programs and supportive services for Transgender and Gender nonconforming and Intersex (TGI) immigrant women in Los Angeles."
No wonder they waited until after the election to pass what Heritage rightly calls "a betrayal of America's voters' wishes" as expressed at the ballot box. Can anyone who voted for this embarrassment explain why any of it is the responsibility of the federal government? An additional question: with the debt at $32 trillion and rising, is there a red line that members would not cross? In other words, is there any limit to their spending? How much more debt would they accept?
As noted in previous columns, no nation has ever been able to survive this level of national debt. Taxpayer money is being wasted as is the money we are borrowing from other nations (and printing). It is the major cause of inflation that is harming the buying power of most Americans. We are ignoring the powerful proverb "waste not, want not" that was followed by Americans of the World War II generation. They were called "great" for this and other reasons we are also ignoring.
The 18 Republican senators caved, as they always do, because they fear a government shutdown. It is a perennial threat by Democrats who, with the help of the media, present the choice of keeping government open, or denying seniors their Social Security checks. That has always been a false choice, but few point it out.
So long as voters embrace the entitlement mentality and vote for people who won't stop the spending we'll get "another day older and deeper in debt" as the old song goes. It used to be said we would be passing on the debt to future generations if the spending doesn't stop. It could now be said that there might not be future generations of Americans as we have known them if it doesn't stop.
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Cal Thomas, America's most-syndicated columnist, is the author of 10 books.