GOP Victorious in Killing Democrat Ominbus Bill

The "moderates" of the GOP were very nearly corrupted into voting for the big fat $1.2 trillion omnibus spending bill that would have increased spending from even the bloated 2010 levels, as well as set up the enforcement mechanisms (including more IRS agents) for Obamacare. All it took was the unprovoked insertion of several earmarks in GOP districts of Murkowski, Collins, Bennett, etc. to help entice them.

But as Kimberly Strassel explains in the WSJ, leader Mitch McConnell (or Mike, as Obama calls him) ultimately persuaded his caucus to heed the election results and vote it down.

Democrats were euphoric. An omnibus victory, they knew, would subject Republicans to an ugly PR hit. True, the omnibus would pass primarily with Democratic votes. But the headlines would focus on the handful of Republicans who provided the final votes and undermined the GOP's spending message. GOP support for this bill would also tarnish what goodwill Republicans earned for their self-imposed earmark ban.

Better yet, Republican earmarkers would be providing President Obama and Democrats a giant policy victory, undercutting House Republicans before they even got the gavel. Everyone in Washington understands that the most powerful tool that Republicans gained in this election was control over spending bills.

...The good news is that the GOP will be even better positioned to reject the lures next year. Mr. McConnell is getting a batch of more fiscally conservative senators whose numbers will give him some breathing room. And the House is hoping its spending reforms will deny its members even the temptation of pork.

The funny thing is that virtually no journalists in the media have even criticized the Democrats for this unconscionable bill. I suppose it's just expected from Democrats nowadays.