Club for Growth urges no on spending measure

A prominent conservative group is urging lawmakers to vote against a measure to fund the government for six months, in just the latest criticism of the spending bill from the right.

The Club for Growth, in an alert sent Wednesday, told lawmakers that they would include the vote on the so-called continuing resolution in their 2012 scorecard, and suggested Congress was trying to avoid facing the nation’s most pressing problems by considering it.

“This CR is bad policy simply because it extends big spending programs, layers on extra riders, and provides only short-term funding for the government so that politicians can leave Washington and/or avoid politically sensitive events,” Andy Roth, the club’s vice president of government affairs, wrote to lawmakers.

Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), the Appropriations Committee chairman, told reporters Wednesday that he believed the CR would pass when it hits the House floor on Thursday. The resolution is also expected to have support from both parties. 

But conservatives in and outside the chamber also have listed a litany of complaints about the measure, including that it continues funding for the Democratic healthcare overhaul and increases spending.

The Club for Growth and some GOP lawmakers also grumble that the measure extends the welfare law, which expires at the end of the month and has started playing a campaign role after the Obama administration announced states could apply for waivers to the law’s work requirements. 

In the wake of the recent embassy attacks, some Republicans are also pushing to strip aid to Libya and Egypt from the resolution – but Rogers said Wednesday the measure was “closed for changes.”

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