Every week I attend (by phone) a Conservative Bloggers' Briefing out of DC
Today's bloggers briefing was packed as we heard from three members of Congress on the the omnibus spending bill before Congress, got the scoop on Planned Parenthood's protection of rapists and child molesters, and finally heard about the worst places in the US to be sued (although honestly, is there anyplace that you'd want to be sued?). Read on.
Omnibus Spending Bill
Senator Tom Coburn and Representative Jeb Hensarling joined us by phone, and House Republican Whip Roy Blunt came by in person to answer our questions on the omnibus spending bill.
Senator Coburn...
The bill gutted half the money for the border fence.
Congressman Hensarling...
No such thing as a good omnibus.
Although a bad bill, it’s a far better bill then I would have ever anticipated.
This is an explosion of earmarks from a party that was going to clean them up.
Congressman Blunt...
This bill is a bigger disappointment to Democrats than we would have expected.
The results of the 2006 elections have reminded lots of people that there’s a difference between how the two parties view the role of the federal government.
Generally, Democrats are going home with very little to be proud of.
This congress has spent more time in session, voted more times, and produced less than any congress in decades.
Some earmark highlights from the omnibus, courtesy of Blunt's office:
*The bill provides $53 million for energy-related assistance to North Korea without requiring any concessions from North Korea on the nuclear programs.
*AFL-CIO Grants: Two non-competitive grants for the ALF-CIO totaling $3.7 million.
Heritage's blog Omnibusting, has much more info on the pork-fest of a bill. Brianna Cardiff of NTU was also at the briefing and has more on what the Congressmen had to say about the omnibus bill.
Wendy Wright - Concerned Women for America
Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America filled us in on the one of biggest struggles going on right now in the abortion wars.
Planned Parenthood is currently under indictment in Kansas for providing illegal late-term abortions and failing to report suspected child abuse.
Not only that but from WorldNetDaily:
A former employee in a state prosecutor's office in Kansas has accused state Attorney General Paul Morrison of using sex to try to obtain insider information about a criminal investigation being conducted by a political opponent into alleged illegal activities at a Planned Parenthood abortion facility.
The full tale is pretty sordid, but it's been covered in part by Robert Novak and Brett Bozell among others.
The twist to all this is that in the this omnibus bill, Planned Parenthood is set to receive over $300 million in taxpayers money, despite the fact that the organization is currently under indictment.
Judicial HellHoles
We heard from the folks at American Tort Reform Association about the release of their annual study of America's most unfair court jurisdictions.
According to the report the top six Judicial Hellholes for 2007 are:
1. South Florida
2. Rio Grande Valley and Gulf Coast, Texas
3. Cook County, Illinois
4. West Virginia
5. Clark County, Nevada
6. Atlantic County, New Jersey
According to ATRA, they want to be a resource for bloggers and media on the issues of civil litigation and tort and legal reform; so if you're blogging about those issues, check 'em out.
Thank You to Joe Mansour
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