86 House Republicans Vote Against $1 Trillion-Plus Megabus Bill

Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) voted against the $1.043 trillion spending bill. (AP Photo)

(CNSNews.com) – Eighty-six conservative House Republicans broke ranks and opposed the $1.043 trillion 2012 megabus appropriations bill on Friday, forcing House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to rely on Democratic support to pass the measure.
The bill passed 296-121 with 147 Republicans and 149 Democrats supporting the measure, which would fund the majority of the federal government through September 2012, the end of that fiscal year.
Eighty-six conservative Republicans voted against the bill mostly because it either spent too much money or was too large and complicated to have been debated properly.
Representative Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said the bill simply spent too much money for him to support it. Flake added that the 1,200-page bill simply could not be thoroughly examined in the three days between its introduction and the House vote.

“Aside from spending levels being simply too high, this is a 1,200-page bill that we’re voting on only a few hours after it was finalized,” he said in a statement on Friday. “We’ll be discovering for months to come what’s actually in it. This is unacceptable. We promised to do better.”