From the December 2009 Idaho Observer:

Cinching the Noose Through Year End Spending Spree

Washington, D.C. - On December 13, the Senate passed a $1.1 trillion spending package for fiscal year 2010, excluding defense spending. The 1,000-plus-page bill brought together six of the 12 annual spending bills that Congress had been unable to pass separately because of partisan roadblocks. A few highlights in this package include:

• $2 billion to study global climate change
• $447 billion for departments’ operating budgets
• $650 billion in mandatory payments for federal benefit programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. Those programs under immediate control of Congress would see increases of about 10 percent.
• $7.9 billion to the FBI, a $680 million increase over 2009
• $45.1 billion to the Veterans Health Administration budget, a $4.1 billion increase.
• $31 billion to the National Institutes of Health, a $692 million increase
• a two percent pay increase to all federal employees
• $3.9 billion for more than 5,000 local projects sought by legislators from both parties

(According to Citizens Against Government Waste, those projects include construction of a county farmer’s market in Kentucky, renovation of a historic theater in New York and restoration of a mill in Rhode Island.)

In addition, Israel will receive $30 billion over the next decade with $2.775 billion slated for 2010 that is earmarked for defense spending. Israel is bound by the agreement to use 75 percent of the security aid in dollars. In other words, Israel must purchase military devices from the U.S. in order to secure jobs for Americans. Making sure Israel has plenty of war machinery allegedly keeps us safe from Muslim terrorists.

Due to the amount of non-existent money Congress is spending, the banksters have told our legislators that they must now vote to raise the debt ceiling from an astounding $12.1 trillion to a more phenomenal $14 trillion.

Then on December 16, the House passed a $636 billion defense spending bill.

The Pentagon bill for fiscal 2010 also included several temporary extensions of current laws due to expire at the end of the year, including the Patriot Act, designed to make it easier for the U.S. government to fight terrorism or, rather, monitor U.S. citizens.

The bill also provides for a 3.4 percent military pay increase but did not include funding to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan which would have cost an additional $30 billion. However, jobless benefits and healthcare for out-of-work Americans were extended a few more months through this bill.

The real question is - How long can our nation survive this astronomical debt load and continual spending spree? Constant roadblocks to HR 1207 and S. 604, the two companion bills to audit the Federal Reserve, keep them from the priority list for Congress to vote on and pass, despite 317 co-sponsors to HR 1207, who were pressured into co-sponsoring the bill by their constituents.

But usher in HR 4137, The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, introduced by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) on December 2, 2009 and it already passes the House nine days later. And do you think any of our legislators read this 1279 page monstrosity that officially marries the Federal Reserve Banking System with the Dept. of Treasury, giving our federal government the authority to decide who gets a mortgage and who gets a credit card? And we, as consumers, are expected to trust that we will be protected from loan sharks and other unscrupulous banking practices when the Federal Reserve Bank that is allowed to create money out of thin air, loan it to us with interest added and has never been subjected to an independent audit. If Americans understood how criminal the Federal Reserve System is, they would also know that abolishing the FED is what must happen if we are to recover our Constitutional Republic.