A bill of goods

Congress is congratulating itself for finally providing pandemic relief with the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. While Sen. Lisa Murkowski lauded this “bipartisan” effort, this is actually just the annual appropriations bill (bipartisan by definition) that Congress failed to pass in a timely manner in October and, by doing so now, narrowly avoids a government shutdown. This isn’t a miracle, senator. It’s your job.

Government appropriations are usually proposed in separate bills for each major government agency and members of Congress then carefully review each bill to ensure appropriate expenditures. But Congress has consistently failed to pass agency appropriations by October, resorting to lumping it all into one omnibus bill shoved through at the last minute to avoid government shutdowns.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021 does just that, riding on the back of $900 billion in much-needed pandemic relief that should have been appropriated months ago under congressional authority to fund unique situations (a pandemic) and emergencies. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez complained and, surprisingly, agreed with Ted Cruz, who said, “it’s absurd to have a $2.5 trillion spending bill negotiated in secret and then — hours later — demand an up-or-down vote on a bill nobody has had time to read.”

This methodology ensures abundant opportunities to insert inappropriate funding requests into an enormous, complicated bill. This year, Congress slipped in cost-of-living adjustments to their $174,000 annual salary, permanent lower tax rates for brewers and vintners (for the Congressional Wine Caucus), a $2.5 billion break for race car tracks and an estimated $6.3 billion write-off for business meals — because during the pandemic, we are all going out for three-martini lunches.

With an eye to how our tax dollars were managed in the last pandemic relief package, the Small Business Association recently reported that 1% of the Payroll Protection Program’s 5.2 million borrowers received more than 25% of the $523 billion disbursed with the last pandemic relief package. New York’s largest horse races received the maximum $10 million allocation.

A provision in the new omnibus bill allows businesses who got free money from the government last time, to now also deduct that largesse from their taxes. Accountants call this double-dipping and estimate it’s worth billions, leaving our children to foot the bill (the deficit).

Buried in this bill is some humor: Our tax dollars will implement a “Domestic Hemp Production Program.” Some of it is horrifying: A new policy prohibits the Department of Homeland from placing pregnant women in restraints except in extraordinary circumstances. And some is long overdue: increased oversight of detention and immigration enforcement activities.

The Defense Department takes the prize for bloat: a $671.5 billion budget — $15 billion more than all non-defense funding combined. This includes $23.3 billion for 10 Navy ships, $1.7 billion for 24 Super Hornet aircraft and $2.2 billion for one Virginia-class submarine. Does DOD know that a cyberattack is more likely than a conventional attack?

In fairness, the bill includes increased funding levels for food stamps, housing assistance and veterans’ services, as well as increased funding for the Environmental Protection Agency, $2.86 billion for energy efficiency and renewable energy, and $214 million for future weather satellites (because climate change is real).

And best of all, because this will not be the last pandemic, budget bumps for the National Institute of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with the hope that the next administration will be better at listening to these agencies.

The point is that if Congress were doing their job, they would have spent the last many months developing appropriations bills that were reviewed and passed by October, as well as additional emergency relief for Americans. We would not be facing government shutdowns or bloated spending bills promising pandemic relief and rammed through in a manner so dysfunctional that members of both parties are disgusted.

The answer? Drain the swamp that, in the past four years, has gotten murkier, more polluted and less capable of governing than ever before. Campaign reform, term limits and clear-cut mechanisms to circumvent obstructionists (Mitch McConnell) are needed to preserve democracy. Remember this at the next election. Congress works for the American people and this will happen when we actually hold them accountable at the ballot box.

Deborah Craig is a longtime Alaskan and activist who lives in Juneau. She tried to read the entire Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, but ultimately skimmed for highlights and consulted appropriation overviews.

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