The Return of the ‘Gang of 14′
January 31, 2009 2 Comments
My ears perked up this morning as Senator Ben Nelson (D- NE) was interviewed on FOX News. Some searching on the net revealed further news about what Nelson is doing to pass the economic stimulus bill. I don’t know how much comfort IDA readers will take in knowing that a version of the “Gang of 14″ is at work again. Here is the article. You read – you decide.
A portion of the article Senate’s Gang of 14′ May be Poised to Strike Again follows:
The ‘Gang of 14′ compromise in 2006 displeased many conservatives – now, with Democrats in power, a similar compromise may be brewing for Obama’s $819 billion economic stimulus bill.
Senate Republicans and some Democrats met Friday morning to seek common ground on how they can improve the $819 billion economic stimulus bill.
One item that likely will be discussed is an amendment that would add billions of dollars to infrastructure projects. Nelson is crafting that measure with Sen. Patty Murry, D-Wash, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D- Calif, both on the Appropriations Committee.
And Nelson doesn’t want to stop there. He wants to pluck out what he says are extraneous projects in the stimulus bill to pay for the amendment. Providing hundreds of millions of dollars for prevention of smoking and sexually-transmitted disease — though they may be worthy causes — does not create jobs. Nelson even is willing to remove popular Pell Grant increases, saving them for annual spending bills later in the year.
So, does this mean that McCain will reunite with his old buddies?
Why do I get the feeling I should be building some sort of concrete bunker and start hoarding guns,ammo, food and water? I just wonder when people will wake up and finally smell the coffee and quit voting for these people who are running the USA into the ground. Dont look like we got to worry about Russia or China were being ruined from within.