Spending Bill Unworkable : Needed, CR 'till Fedruary

My goodness - as it turned out the bill past the House and now the Senate is trying to pass it but is finding it difficult to get the right number of Senators on board to make it happen.

This spending bill is not good. Spending should be extended to February only, not for a full year, so the next new Republican congress can make needed changes. The voted to make this happen. As the democrats are so fond of saying when they win, it's a mandate for the Republicans to do the right thing.

Opposition to Spending Bill on Both Sides
Source: Deirdre Walsh, "Here's what's tucked in the spending bill," CNN.com, December 11, 2014; Melissa Quinn, "Government Spending Bill Faces Uncertain Fate," Daily Signal, December 10, 2014; Peter Suderman, "Will Bipartisan Opposition Kill the Cromnibus?" Reason.com, December 11, 2014.
December 12, 2014

On Thursday, the House is set to vote on a more than $1 trillion spending bill that would fund the U.S. government through September 2015. The bill has caught the ire of conservatives and liberals alike, with many Republicans upset that the law funds President Obama's amnesty action, while Democrats have criticized the proposal for raising campaign contribution limits and making changes to Dodd-Frank.
What's in the spending measure? According to Melissa Quinn at the Daily Signal:

• The federal government would receive $1.1 trillion in funding, with 11 agencies funded through the end of September 2015 and the Department of Homeland Security funded through February 27, 2015.
• The Department of Health and Human Services would receive $948 million for assisting unaccompanied children who have crossed the southern U.S. border. School districts would receive $14 million for enrolling those children.
• The Department of Justice would receive $351 million for expenses relating to "the administration of pardon and clemency petitions and immigration-related activities."
• Individuals would be able to donate $324,000 to national party committees for conventions and recounts, 10 times the amount currently allowed by law.
• The bill includes $5.4 million to fight Ebola.
• There is $500 million in the bill to aid Syrian opposition in fighting ISIS.

At CNN, Deirdre Walsh notes several other parts of the bill, whose provisions range from blocking energy efficiency standards that would render incandescent bulbs obsolete to requiring the development of a new sexual harassment training program for Capitol Hill staffers.