They Voted for You: Federal Spending

U.S. Sens. Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller helped send the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009 to President Obama.

The West Virginia Democrats sided with the majority in a 62-35 vote on a procedural motion that required at least 60 yeas for the bill to proceed. It then passed on a voice vote, The Associated Press reports.

"Obama is expected to sign the measure Wednesday to avoid a partial shutdown of the government," but is "also set to announce steps aimed at curbing lawmakers' so-called earmarks," the article said.

As AP explains, "The $410 billion bill is chock-full of those pet projects and significant increases in food aid for the poor, energy research and other programs."

"The 1,132-page spending bill has an extraordinary reach, wrapping together nine spending bills to fund foreign aid and the annual operating budgets of every Cabinet department except for Defense, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs," the article also said. "It also contains numerous policy changes, including shutting down a program allowing Mexican trucking companies to operate beyond U.S.-Mexico border zones, easing rules on Cuban-Americans traveling to the island to visit relatives and allowing quick reversal of Bush administration rules opposed by environmentalists."

Update: The Charleston Daily Mail reports that U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd tucked "60 earmarks for West Virginia at a cost of $123 million" into the bill, citing figures from Taxpayers for Common Sense.