Cartoon: Tree Trimming…Washington Style

The spending bill, released and passed this week, wasn't exactly the greatest holiday gift for taxpayers …

From Heritage budget expert Romina Boccia's column earlier this week:

At more than 1,600 pages, Congress’s $1.1 trillion behemoth spending bill funding almost all government agencies through September 2015 has arrived.

…

The “CRomnibus” spending bill represents a strange marriage between an omnibus packed with 11 spending bills funding everything from the failed Head Start program to the Community Development Block Grant program (remember the infamous pet shampoo company grant?) and a continuing resolution for Congress to punt on what to do about President Obama’s contentious executive order on immigration until February of next year.

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Not unlike last year, lawmakers are once again confronted with continuing funding for corporate welfare, poorly functioning government programs and other matters that would not fit the definition of “national priorities” even if one tried hard to squeeze them into such a mold. The clock is ticking on the dreaded partial government shutdown as the current resolution expires at midnight on Thursday, exerting pressure on lawmakers to just go along.

Going along is partially responsible for federal spending having increased by 63 percent since 1994. Duplication of federal programs and services alone costs taxpayers an estimated $45 billion. Meanwhile, the federal debt reached $18 trillion the day after Thanksgiving.