Republican congressmen have their reasons for voting against a bill to reopen the federal government and prevent a national default but, as dubious as their reasons may be, I doubt any of them come close to the reason Representative Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) voted against the bill.
“Finally, the ‘deal’ is full of pork,” he said. “A dam project in Kentucky got extra money; the state of Colorado got money to help with its flooding; and the ‘Lord’s Resistance Army’ received special funds. Those may be worth discussing, but that will never happen now, as they were crammed into this ‘deal’ in order to help it pass. So much for the ‘clean’ bill that my Democrat colleagues said they wanted so badly.”
The Defense Department’s authority to aide African forces opposed to the Lord’s Resistance Army expired. The bill reauthorizes it. It does not fund the Lord’s Resistence Army. It allows the Pentagon to fund those hunting the Resistance Army’s leader, Joseph Kony.
In hindsight, I suppose this is no more fantastical than the belief that the bill will fund death panels that will kill granny.
By the way, are we really at a point where money to help with catastrophic flooding is considered pork?