Following the House’s passage of a nearly $450 billion spending bill, Republican Whip Eric Cantor sent President Obama a letter calling on him to veto the bill. Here’s the full text of the letter:
Dear Mr. President,
Today the House of Representatives passed a $447 billion Omnibus spending bill by a vote of 221 to 202 with 174 House Republicans opposed to this bill. I write to inform you that should you choose to veto this bill, a sufficient number of House Republicans will stand with you to sustain your veto.
While there are numerous reasons that this Omnibus spending bill should be vetoed, there are two compelling points that I believe warrant your consideration.
First, the Omnibus spending bill increases spending by $50 billion over last year’s budget which already included significant increases for these same agencies. Last year to finance record levels of spending, our government had to borrow $1,417 billion. To put it simply, we cannot afford even an additional $50 billion in spending. However, the cost is substantially higher than $50 billion. By adding this cost to the baseline, the $50 billion in spending today will cost over $500 billion over the next ten years (and that assumes – perhaps unrealistically given recent experience — that this new expenditure isn’t allowed to grow). During our meeting at the White House yesterday, you indicated a concern about adding additional spending to the baseline. Now you have the opportunity to address that concern, and on that basis alone, I urge you to veto this bill.
Mr. President, you have also indicated an intention to focus on deficit reduction next year. But America cannot afford to wait that long. You can begin the process of deficit reduction now by vetoing this bill and demanding that Congress limit overall domestic spending to last year’s level – another topic which we discussed yesterday during the economic meeting.
Second, this bill will cause you to violate one of your campaign pledges. During the 2008 campaign you stated that you were “…committed to returning earmarks to less than $7.8 billion a year, the level they were at before 1994…” Your pledge was a topic of discussion back in March when you signed another Omnibus spending bill with billions of dollars in earmarks. At that time you stated, “The future demands that we operate in a different way than we have in the past. So let there be no doubt: this piece of legislation must mark an end to the old way of doing business, and the beginning of a new era of responsibility and accountability that the American people have every right to expect and to demand.”
According to the non-partisan Taxpayers for Common Sense, this Omnibus bill includes 5,224 earmarks worth $3.898 billion. If you add this to the bills you have already signed into law for FY 2010 this brings the total to 7,577 earmarks worth a total of $5.994 billion. The only remaining bill is the Defense Appropriations measure, and the House and Senate have each included $2.6 billion in earmarks in their respective versions of the bill. This would bring the total earmarks to $8.6 billion for the year, $800 million or 10% above your pledge. Unless you are intending to veto the Defense bill, it is clear that you must veto this Omnibus bill in order to maintain your commitment to reducing earmarks.
Mr. President, I understand that it can be difficult to veto a bill written and passed by Members of your own party, but you have committed to changing the way Washington operates and Republicans stand ready to support that goal. Our current fiscal challenges demand that we make tough choices and should you choose to veto this bill because of its excessive spending, House Republicans will cross party lines to support you.
Sincerely,
Eric Cantor
Republican Whip
