Trump’s Free Ballroom Costs You One Billion Dollars

$1 billion for Trump’s free ballroom is hidden in an immigration bill, and Rand Paul is calling it a “bad bill.”

“Not one penny is being used from the federal government.”

That’s what Donald Trump declared when he announced the White House ballroom project. He couldn’t have been clearer: it wouldn’t cost you a dime.

Repeatedly, he said, the whole project would be funded by “Patriot Donors and Contributors.”

Private money? Your money stays in your pocket.

Free ballroom?

So much for that!

This week, Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley released a $72 billion bill to fund ICE and Border Patrol.

Clustered inside is $1 billion for Secret Service security upgrades…

…to the ballroom.

$1 billion for Trump’s free ballroom hidden inside an unrelated immigration bill.

The Republicans are saying the money is only for security, not construction.

Call it whatever you want: security, infrastructure, or upgrades. Explain the distinction to your wallet.

And here’s how they did it…

Cluster Funding Legislation

They attached it to border enforcement funding so that no Republican can vote against the ballroom without also voting against ICE and Border Patrol.

That’s the trap. That’s how the game works. You take something controversial, shove it into something popular, and dare anyone to object.

Well, Rand Paul objected.

As chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, this bill landed right on Paul’s desk. He called it a “bad bill.” But he didn’t just complain. He proposed an alternative approach that would handle the ballroom without spending a single taxpayer dollar.

Paul sees exactly what leadership is doing – using must-pass legislation to force members into an all-or-nothing vote. And he likely sees it because…

Rand Paul has consistently sponsored the OSTA (One Subject at a Time Act).

As a subscriber to Agenda Setters by Downsize DC, you know how to spot this trick, too.

You know how the game is played. Leadership bundles the controversial with the popular, rushes it through, and counts on the media to attack anyone who pushes back.

OSTA would prohibit Congress from cluster-funding unrelated proposals into a single bill. No more hiding a ballroom inside border enforcement. No more forcing members into all-or-nothing votes on thousand-page packages.

With OSTA, every proposal gets its own bill and its own vote.

Please join The 300, if you haven’t already, to support the One Subject at a Time Act. If Congress wants to spend a billion dollars on a ballroom, make them vote on it, out in the open, all by itself.

One Subject at a Time

Set your own agenda,

Jim Babka, President
Agenda Setters by Downsize DC

P.S. Remember, OSTA is a law instead of a mere rule. So it has teeth. If Congress violates it, courts can and will prohibit the enforcement of anything they tried to sneak through – like pretending a free ballroom needs taxpayer funding, then stuffing that into an unrelated border patrol bill.

Today’s Action: One Subject at a Time can stop things like $1 billion ballrooms