This is the time of year when the congressional class usually assrapes the American taxpayer by means of pork-laden “continuing resolutions” that shovel fat stacks of your hard-earned money into the insatiable maw of rich special interests. And they tried to do it again this year, when incoming DOGE head Elon Musk looked at the bill and went “Wait a minute.”
And indeed, it was a pork-laden nightmare.
The continuing resolution, or CR, was meant to kick the government funding deadline down the road by continuing spending at 2024 levels until March and buy more time for Congress to hash out a longer-term budget plan for fiscal year 2025. But it included 1,500 pages worth of policy and funding riders.
With a national debt of $36 trillion and a deficit of $1.8 trillion, conservatives are leery of CRs that don’t cut government spending to begin with, but they’ve argued only a “clean” CR without any riders attached could earn their vote. Others — Democrats and some Republicans — wanted policy and funding riders attached to get something done beyond the status quo.
Here’s a look at all the provisions that prompted Musk and Ramaswamy to step in and insist Republicans kill the CR:
Pay raises for lawmakers
A nearly 4% pay raise would line the pockets of lawmakers if the legislation were to pass: $6,600 extra per year on top of their $174,000 salary.
That salary hasn’t been increased since 2009, but Congress created a program in 2022 allowing members of Congress to expense their food and lodging in Washington, D.C., while conducting official business.
Some members have been pushing for a pay raise for years, arguing that if members aren’t paid more it means that only independently wealthy people will run for Congress. Others are worried about the optics of a pay raise with voters.
Still, others just don’t think lawmakers deserve it.
“The worst part of the CR was the pay raise for members. That money should be earned and right now it is just being taken,” said Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., on X.
Exempting members from ObamaCare
The legislation also includes a provision stipulating that members of Congress do not have to participate in the health care system they wrote into law — the Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare.
It would allow members to opt out of the program and instead participate in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. The lawmaker mandate was a contentious debate during the passage of ObamaCare in 2009 and 2010, and for years Republicans tried to overturn the health care bill entirely.
While the CR would exempt members from having to buy health care on the ObamaCare exchange, it would still require their staff to participate in it.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., whose job has come under renewed threat due to anger over the CR, has said he started with a “clean” CR plan but needed to add disaster relief for victims of Hurricanes Helene and Milton in the southeastern part of the country.
Some $100 billion for disaster relief was included, but some conservatives argue it should be paid for by cutting funding in other areas.
Rebuilding Maryland’s Francis Scott Key Bridge
The CR includes $8 billion for rebuilding the Baltimore area bridge, which collapsed earlier this year. Some conservatives don’t believe the federal government should be on the hook entirely for the bridge.
“Guess what, folks? Even though the Francis Scott Key Bridge is privately owned, insured, and collects tolls, you still have the honor of footing 100% of the bill to have it repaired. Oh, and it will continue to collect tolls once it’s fixed,” Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., wrote on X.
Musk was not amused:
Also, there were novel techniques used to find the pork and drag it blinking into the light:
And when faced with evidence of their free spending pork ways being dragged into the light, Republican congressional leaders quickly backed down and crafted a much smaller bill.
Some on the right have poo-pooed Musk’s venture into the budget process as “ill-informed.”
To which I say: Fuck that.
For more than forty years, Republican in congress have proclaimed their desire for a balanced budget, signing pledges and making campaign promises for same. And for all but three of those years (at the tail end of the dotcom boom when a Gingrich-led stalemate with the Clinton Administration slowed the rate of government growth), they have failed to deliver, even in those years where Republicans held the House, Senate and White House.
For whatever reason, something always seemed to take priority over balancing the budget, be it the war on terror, fear of being blamed for a shutdown, desire for campaign contributions from rich donors, tasty lobbyist favors, or their desire for hooker and blow parties (you make the call). The end result is that the national debt is now $36 trillion and rising, exceeding our GDP.
Enough.
More than enough.
There is no “We’ll get it in the next resolution” or “wait until the next budget.”
Now we’re paying attention, and the crooked lapdogs of the culture of corruption can’t get away with this bullshit any more.
Republican congresscritters can either start acting like Republicans, or else getting primaried is the least nasty thing we’re going to do to them.
After all this, Musk took a victory lap (as well he should):
Now we just need to bring ten times this pressure for the first Trump47 budget.
(Hat tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.)
