Mammoth Appropriations Bill Gives $700 Million for a Bike Path, Cuts Funding for Border Fence

The emmense 3,500 page appropriations bill that the House passed yesterday slashed the money needed to complete the fence on our border with Mexico. Micelle Malkin’s new column, “The Incredible Disappearing Border Fence” details how the members of Congress, Republican and Democrat, have ignored the will of the people in fovor of illegal immigration:

As part of the omnibus spending package passed this week, House Democrats incorporated Senate Republicans’ provisions to remove the two-layer fencing requirements and the specific target list of fencing locations.

GOP Rep. Peter T. King, who sponsored the Secure Fence Act, told the Washington Times: “This is either a blatant oversight or a deliberate attempt to disregard the border security of our country. As it’s currently written, the omnibus language guts the Secure Fence Act almost entirely. Quite simply, it is unacceptable.”

Unacceptable is putting it quite mildly, Sir. This is an outrage. What has to be done before these clowns start listening? Phone calls are not setting a clear enough example, it seems. What do we have to do to send a clear enough message?

As if it wasn’t bad enough to ignore the call to secure the border, they have also ignored the call to end wasteful spending:

The pork barrel includes $700 million for a Minnesota bike trail, $113,000 for rodent control in Alaska, and $1 million for an energy project in the district of Lousiana Democrat William Jefferson, who faces trial for bribery next year. Dozens of these earmarks were “air-dropped” into the bill at the last minute, meaning that fiscal conservative Members lacked the time to find and fight them on the House or Senate floor.

And after cutting the border fence funding, we taxpayers get to pay lawyers fees. For who? Illegal immigrants:

House Republican Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri said the bill is full of “misguided” policy decisions: “On one page, for instance, you will find a set of new restrictions on the construction of our security fence along the border; on another, $10 million in ‘emergency’ funding for attorneys of illegal immigrants.

I have checked, and my congressman voted against this bill. So good job Sam Graves. But again he was on the losing side. Did your congressman serve you, or did they throw you under the bus? Here’s the roll call vote. It was right down party lines. NOt one Republican voted for this bill, and only four Democrats voted against it: Baird, Cooper, Kucinich,
and Mitchell.