WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has passed a $788 billion spending bill that combines a $1.6 billion down payment for President Donald Trump’s controversial border wall with Mexico with a whopping budget increase for the Pentagon.
The 235-192 vote both eases a large backlog of unfinished spending bills and gives Trump and his House GOP allies political wins heading into the August recess. Significant hurdles remain in front of the measure, which will meet with more powerful Democratic opposition in the Senate.
A potential government shutdown battle over the U.S.-Mexico wall looms this fall. The generous defense spending increases also run afoul of strict spending limits set by an earlier budget law.
For now, however, Republicans controlling the House cheered the measure’s help for military readiness and generous increases for veterans.
So the money is needed to get Mexico to pay for the wall, right?
It’s just enough money for them to re-open the accounts and bribe their way through customs, then they’ll split the inheritance with us and give us a map to the rest of the buried treasure. Just make sure we include the account numbers for the treasury and our mother’s maiden name (it’s “England”).
That sounds about right.
Only $788 billion? What a bunch of weak-kneed lily-livers to not ask for over a trillion. Obviously they hate this country, I mean, how else are a bunch of already-wealthy defense contractors going to pay for their multiple estates and political payoffs?
Uhhh… Yeah. Sure.
We’ll call it… Ummm…
—> “Collection costs”. That’s the ticket!