The House of Representatives has spiraled into outright fiscal madness, according to Republican Conference Secretary John Carter, who today helped lead futile efforts against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s attempt to increase federal spending by an astounding 25 percent over 2008 levels.

Pelosi again violated House Rules requiring all bills be allowed 72-hours of public access before a vote, in pushing H.R. 3288, the Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY2010, which passed by a narrow 221-202 partisan margin, with not a single Republican voting for the measure.

"Jobs and the value of the dollar are reeling from the bone-crushing debt that Nancy Pelosi and the Obama Administration have already piled on," says Carter. "Obama’s ratings are in the tank as a result of this crazed spending spree, and yet that hasn’t slowed them down one iota. They have obviously decided that what the American public thinks about any issue just doesn’t matter."

Carter says legitimate government functions must be funded by Congress, but under current crisis economic conditions the House should be voting to reduce the growth in spending or for an outright freeze, not double-digit increases.

The 1,085-page bill costs nearly half a trillion dollars, totaling $446.8 billion. It increases spending an overall 12.5 percent increase over FY2009, and an overall 24.4 percent over FY2008. The so-called "Omnibus" bill which provides annual funding for multiple federal agencies, increased funding for State-Foreign Ops by 48.8 percent; Transportation and Housing by 39.1 percent; and Commerce-Justice-Science by 24.3 percent.

"In the middle of the worst recession since 1983 with unemployment at 10 percent, and after having told our seniors there would be zero cost-of-living increases for social security recipients, House Democrats just voted for a 25 percent cost-of-living increase for the federal bureaucracy. That is unacceptable, and I believe the voters are going to make that case themselves next November."

The bill is also a direct slap at conservative families and political opponents. It allows the DC government to fund abortions and needle exchanges using public dollars, phases out the DC school voucher program, eliminates funding for abstinence education, and provides a nearly 20 percent increase for international abortion organizations. The legislation strips language guaranteeing free speech for talk radio, by encouraging the so-called Fairness Doctrine.

It contains 5,224 earmarks worth a total of $3.8 billion, in direct violation of President Obama’s pledge to rein in earmarks in spending bills. It was submitted for a floor vote only 36 hours after being introduced, instead of the required 72-hour period allowing the media adequate time to report on the measure and for voters to have time to contact their representative to voice an opinion.