Republicans hid destructive provisions in spending bill

The people who put it stuff like this should be required to be identified.

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2014/12/10/Last-Minute-Changes-Could-Derail-Spending-Bill

Last-Minute Changes Could Derail Spending Bill

By Rob Garver,
The Fiscal Times
December 10, 2014

An omnibus spending bill that funds the government through much of next year came under fire from Democrats and campaign finance reform organizations on Wednesday, after it was found to contain controversial policy riders, including one that would strip away many limits on the amount of money wealthy donors can give to political parties and another lifting the ban on risky derivatives trading by government-insured banks.

•••••

To find the changes in the bill causing all the fuss, you have to be pretty dedicated. On the campaign finance rider specifically, you have to make it to page 1,599 of the 1,603-page proposal, and look under the rather unclear heading “Other Matters.”

Those who make it that far will learn that if the bill is signed into law, it will further undo efforts to restrict the influence of big money in politics, which had already been greatly diminished by the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling. By some estimates, individual donors will see the cap on how much money they can donate to party committees increased tenfold.

•••••

The bill would not just increase the amount of money that individuals can give to party committees, but would also increase the number of committees eligible for the funding. The result appears to be that an individual currently limited to giving $32,400 per year to a national party committee, and to separate committees focused on House and Senate races, could now give a total of $776,600 per year – or more than $1.5 million per election cycle.

This is separate and apart from money contributed to individual candidates, unaffiliated political action committees, and more.

Campaign finance reform advocates blasted the policy rider, which was inserted into the bill with no debate in either house of Congress.

•••••

Pelosi said she also objects to another rider that makes changes to the Dodd-Frank law, loosening some restrictions on the risks banks and investment firms can take. The bill would loosen a restriction from the 2010 Wall Street reform bill that prevents banks insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. from dealing in risky derivatives trading. [So taxpayers would be forced to bail them out.]

“These provisions are destructive to middle class families and to the practice of our democracy,” she said. “We must get them out of the omnibus package.”

•••••