Cracks in the wall: Some Dems are balking at high spending

Congressional Democrats aren't as solid as Barack Obama would like them to be, according to McClatchy:

Warning signs are everywhere, however, that restless constituents could give Democrats in Congress second thoughts about expensive future legislation backed by Obama and Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill:

Current year spending legislation. "People don't understand it," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., emphasizing that the fiscal 2009 bill's purpose is simply to keep most government agencies running until Sept. 30, the end of fiscal 2009.

The public instead sees headlines saying that the bill has an 8 percent increase over last year's spending — and an 11 percent boost for Congress's spending on itself — and that's causing concern.

Two prominent Democratic senators said early in the budget debate that they opposed the package because it costs too much, and 20 Democrats in the House of Representatives voted no. Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., called the measure "bloated" and protested that it "requires sacrifice from no one, least of all the government." Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., objected to the thousands of earmarks, or local projects inserted by lawmakers.

Related post:

Bayh says we should say bye to the omnibus bill

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