Democratic Spending Bill Reverses Infamous Bush Rule on Endangered Species

[babylonsister]

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/02/democratic-spending-bill-reverses-infamous-bush-rule-on-endangered-species.php

Democratic Spending Bill Reverses Infamous Bush Rule on Endangered Species
By Elana Schor - February 25, 2009, 12:19PM


The $410 billion government spending bill that's poised to pass the House of Representatives today contains a lot of good new science and sex-ed policies -- but that's not its only hidden gem.

The bill also authorizes a reversal of last year's controversial Bush end run around the Endangered Species Act, which would allow oil rigs and highways to be built anywhere in the U.S. without independent reviews of their potential impact on the surrounding wildlife populations. As Bloomberg reports:

The provision authorizes President Barack Obama to reverse a Bush administration rule that said energy projects outside the habitat of polar bears couldn't be blocked solely because emissions might add to global warming and destruction of the arctic species.

...

The provision could also expand the consultations required before changes are made to endangered-species listings. A rule issued under President George W. Bush limited the number of agencies that had to weigh in on decisions about endangered animals.

This authorization should be a welcome development for the environmental community -- provided that the Senate version of the spending bill keeps it intact. (It almost makes up for the Democrats' decision to kick the can down the road on the Medicaid family-planning aid that was cut from the stimulus last month ... the spending bill wasn't the most likely vehicle for restoring that aid, but it could've happened.)

[Winterblues]

1. What spending bill is this?

$410 billion spending bill and I have not heard a single word other than this post about it. I thought until Obama presented his Budget there would be no other major "Spending Bills".

[babylonsister]

2. I thought this was the stimulus bill, but that's already

been signed. Good question. I don't know what's going through the House today.

[Winterblues]

3. Not according to the date and dollar amount it isn't.

The date is today's date and it says it is to be voted on in the house and later in the Senate. The Stimulus bill is old news, this appears to be news.

[babylonsister]

4. Here. It's a new one, only unveiled on Monday...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iJVaOiD0jiLSGgwW2bC-FQG73riQD96HLDG00

House Democrats propose $410B spending bill

By DAVID ESPO – 1 day ago


WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats unveiled a $410 billion spending bill on Monday to keep the government running through the end of the fiscal year, setting up the second political struggle over federal funds in less than a month with Republicans.

The measure includes thousands of earmarks, the pet projects favored by lawmakers but often criticized by the public in opinion polls. There was no official total of the bill's earmarks, which accounted for at least $3.8 billion.

The legislation, which includes an increase of roughly 8 percent over spending in the last fiscal year, is expected to clear the House later in the week.

Democrats defended the spending increases, saying they were needed to make up for cuts enacted in recent years or proposed a year ago by then-President George W. Bush in health, education, energy and other programs.

Republicans countered that the spending in the bill far outpaced inflation, and amounted to much higher increases when combined with spending in the stimulus legislation that President Barack Obama signed last week. In a letter to top Democratic leaders, the GOP leadership called for a spending freeze, a step they said would point toward a "new standard of fiscal discipline."

Either way, the bill advanced less than one week after Obama signed the $787 billion economic stimulus bill that all Republicans in Congress opposed except for three moderate GOP senators.

Apart from spending, the legislation provides Democrats in Congress and Obama an opportunity to reverse Bush-era policy on selected issues.

It loosens restrictions on travel to Cuba, as well as the sale of food and medicine to the communist island-nation.

In another change, the legislation bans Mexican-licensed trucks from operating outside commercial zones along the border with the United States. The Teamsters Union, which supported Obama's election last year, hailed the move.

The Bush administration backed a pilot program to permit up to 500 trucks from 100 Mexican motor carriers access to U.S. roads.

The legislation covers programs for numerous Cabinet-level and other agencies, and takes the place of regular annual spending bills that did not pass last year as a result of a deadlock between the Bush administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress.

Congressional expenses are included. The bill provides $500,000 for what is described as a Senate "pilot program" that will defray the cost of mass mail postcards to households notifying them of a nearby town meeting to be attended by any senator.