Senate Dem leader drops nearly $1.3T spending bill

via Breitbart:

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrats controlling the Senate have abandoned a 1,924-page catchall spending measure that's laced with homestate pet projects known as earmarks and that would have provided another $158 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Nevada Democrat Harry Reid gave up on the nearly $1.3 trillion bill after several Republicans who had been thinking of voting for the bill pulled back their support.

GOP leader Mitch McConnell threw his weight against the bill in recent days, saying it was in his words "unbelievable" that Democrats would try to muscle through in just a few days legislation that usually takes months to debate.

Reid said he would work with McConnell to produce a short-term funding bill to keep the government running into early next year.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

WASHINGTON (AP)—The top Senate Republican has offered a one-page bill to prevent a government shutdown on Saturday as an alternative to a 1,924-page catchall spending measure offered by Democrats.

Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell says it's unbelievable that Democrats want to pass the measure in just a few days as Christmas approaches. He says Congress should pass a less costly bill next year—when Republicans will have more leverage.

McConnell had earlier quietly backed the effort to produce the nearly $1.3 trillion bill, but he's now trying to kill it. McConnell also obtained $85 million in so-called earmarks for Kentucky.

Democrats say they'll take up the bill later Thursday. It bankrolls every Cabinet agency for the budget year that started Oct. 1.

Congressman Calls on Obama to Take Illegal Immigration 'Seriously' Following Death of Border Agent

via Fox News

The incoming chairman of the House Judiciary Committee said the shooting death of a U.S. Border Patrol agent is a "sad reminder" of the dangers law enforcement officers face on a daily basis and called on the Obama administration to secure the U.S.-Mexico border.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Elect Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said the killing of Brian A. Terry in southern Arizona late Tuesday should serve as wake-up call to President Obama and his administration.

"The Obama administration’s lax enforcement of immigration laws, coupled with calls for mass amnesty, only encourage more illegal immigration," Smith said in a statement released Wednesday. "Our border remains porous and the Obama administration has done nothing to stop the steady flow of human and drug smuggling from Mexico."

Agent Brian A. Terry, 40, was killed late Tuesday near Rio Rico, Ariz., according to a statement released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials. At least four suspects are in custody and another is still being pursued.

The leader of a union representing Border Patrol agents said Terry was trying to catch bandits who target illegal immigrants for robbery.

National Border Patrol Council President T.J. Bonner said Terry was waiting with three other agents in a remote area north of Nogales when a gun battle began. A CBP spokesman would not confirm that account.

Prior to Terry's death, the last fatal shooting of a Border Patrol agent was on July 23, 2009, when Robert Rosas, 30, was killed by unidentified assailants while responding to suspicious activity in a known smuggling corridor near Campo, Calif., CBP officials said.

Since 2005, according to Smith's statement, roughly 28,000 people have been killed along the U.S.-Mexico border, including 1,000 law enforcement officers.

"The murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry is a sad reminder of the real-life dangers that Americans and our law enforcement agents face along the southwest border," Smith's statement continued. "What will it take to make the Obama administration realize that we must do more to secure our border and keep Americans safe? Earlier this year, a rancher in Arizona was killed on his own property. The suspect is believed to have been an illegal immigrant. Last night, Border Patrol Agent Terry lost his life for simply doing his job. How many more Americans will die before the Obama administration wakes up and starts taking illegal immigration seriously?"

Massachusettes Stuck With Another Liberal

Being a lifelong Massachusetts resident, I have come to expect that Senior U.S. Senator John Kerry would maintain his normal posture of being a liberal, but I didn't expect Scott Brown to be just as bad. We learn today, that Scott Brown, only days after voting to filibuster "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is on board with the Democrats to repeal it.

The victory of Scott Brown was a truly amazing one, and the entire nation stopped when they heard a Republican won in one of the most liberal states in the country. Scott Brown was the topic of conservation in Massachusetts for weeks both before and after the election. People across the country were amazed that a Republican, someone who campaigned as a conservative Republican on most issues, actually won a U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts.

After all of the hype surrounding the election started to fade off, us political junkies watched and have seen how Brown actually voted. Brown has stood firm on some critical fiscal issues, but as expected, eventually gave in to the democrats and a liberal view of public policy. I guess in Massachusetts you replace a liberal with a liberal, even if it happens to be a Republican.