...but we support the troops!

McConnell Amendment Passes

70-25.

So the omnibus bill will go back over to the House, who approved the bill earlier but with the stipulation that military spending go only toward the effort in Afghanistan. Nancy Pelosi will just love to get this bill back from the Senate with this amendment attached.

She is probably starting to hear the howling for her scalp coming from her sidewalk even now. Sometimes I almost feel sorry for her...almost.

HT: Hugh Hewitt

Omnibus Disaster

An omnibus bill is a bill that combines multiple spending bills into one huge, ginormous bill that no Senator has time to read before voting upon it--he or she must rely almost solely upon staffers to digest it. As such, it is absolutely guaranteed that there will be kilatons of pork in there. Rep. Tom Coburn has counted 9,241 earmarks which total over $23 B.

The bill the Senate is considering tonight combines 11 of 12 appropriations bills. It's 3,565 pages long.

Heritage has done a great job in identifying what's wrong with this omnibus bill. Read this and you'll see that I was right when I told you about Mr. Crockett's lesson...

Hugh Hewitt explains the circumstances around three amendments that have been offered that may kill the bill. The two anti-war measures have already been defeated. If McConnell's amendment (which provides $70B for the war effort without a withdrawal timetable) passes, then the bill will probably pass. Can't blame him...he's probably just trying to find that silver lining. It's just that they should pass a continuing resolution.

And, in case you didn't know it, the Democrats' favorite KKK member (no, it's not Mr. Potter) has truly lost his marbles. You need to watch this and behold who the enlightened electorate of West Virginia have voted and kept in office for 48 years in exchange for bringing home the bacon. And please note...the display below is not just because he's 90 years old...he's been doing this for years...

Good News from NPR

I caught an NPR reporter saying something like, "When an Al Qaeda member waves a flag in Iraq, it is now just a matter of who's going to shoot him first? The Shia who they call infidels or the Sunni who used to be their allies?" (:15)

The NPR anchor intoned that the surge that has been in place for almost a year seems to be working, with the only question being, "what will happen when the troops draw down and force the Iraqi government to take over?"

SEGUE

"Congressman are returning to their districts and facing a firestorm of opposition from their constituents. Although increased numbers of Americans believe that we are making progress in Iraq, 60% of the American people are against the war."

At least 2 more minutes of citing opinions from different segments of people about their view of the war--all negative. Quote from a military father: "The way this is going, we'll be in Iran in a year."

That's NPR, hold the positive news of actual developments to a minimum, then really delve into the opinions of selected individuals -- because that's the real news!