House Budget Deal Breakdown: It’s a Cluster
“This is what Republican surrender looks like.”
The air is crisp, the leaves are donning their autumnal dress, and the Hill is bracing for it’s annual budget fight.
According to Speaker Boehner, “there’s no reason to vote against it.”
But what’s really in the House’s budget proposal?
The Washington Examiner‘s Phillip Klein isn’t so convinced. “This is what Republican surrender looks like,” he wrote:
Republican leaders have agreed to unravel progress they made in hard fought budget battles to pump more money into government in the short-term in exchange for modest reforms, many of which can and likely will be easily undone by future Congresses. After spending much of their time in the minority in 2009 and 2010 poking holes in Obama’s budget gimmickry, they have dug deep into a Mary Poppins-like bag of gimmicks and thrown them all into this deal.
The deal, in addition to suspending the debt limit until March 2017, will increase spending in a number of ways. It will undo the limits on discretionary spending put in place by the 2011 budget deal, representing an increase in $80 billion over the next two fiscal years, split between defense and non-defense spending.
To help pay for this, they’re theoretically extending the time that sequestration will be in place for two additional years, from 2023 to 2025. On paper, the idea is that spending cuts in 2024 and 2025 will help make up for the increased spending in the next two years. But this is a fantasy.
…There will also be an additional $16 billion in defense spending increases into an overseas contingency operations fund and the deal would spend more money by avoiding scheduled increases in Medicare premiums.
…”The last thing Congress should do is raid the retirement trust fund,” the GOP’s own budget, released in March, read. As Republicans rightly pointed out, when this trick has been used in the past, all it’s done is delay the problem and worsen the finances of Social Security’s retirement program. But the Boehner deal relies on this kind of reallocation to put off the immediate crisis from 2016 to 2022.
Though there are some worthwhile reforms to the disability program in the deal aimed at reducing fraud, in no way do those justify kicking the can down the road in this manner.
The House budget proposal is so good, Senate Republicans are already balking at the idea of passing it.
Sen. Rubio rejected the deal because it contains no deterrent for Washington’s never-ending spending spree:
“I oppose this deal, which fails to seriously address the long-term drivers of our debt, contains no fundamental reforms to stop Washington from spending money it doesn’t have and does not come close to meeting our military needs in a dangerous global security environment. This severely flawed deal punts an opportunity to prioritize defense spending to the levels necessary to protect our nation, irresponsibly increases the debt ceiling through March 2017 and fails to reform Social Security Disability Insurance to ensure its long-term solvency.”
.@MarcoRubio Announces Opposition To Budget Deal: https://t.co/7ltf8xwXT7
— Senator Rubio Press (@SenRubioPress) October 27, 2015
And Sen. Paul is planning to filibuster it to death. The Washington Examiner reported Paul’s remarks in Denver Tuesday evening:
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul promised to filibuster a deal reached by the White House and House Republicans that would keep the government financed through next September while raising the debt ceiling.
The Republican presidential candidate told reporters in Denver Tuesday that he will “do everything in [his] power” to stop the Senate’s passage of what he described as a “steaming pile of legislation.”
“I will filibuster and I will urge my colleagues to join my effort,” he added.
The bill reached by Republican leaders and President Obama Monday evening would increase existing caps on federal spending by $50 billion in fiscal 2016 and by $30 billion the following year in addition to boosting military spending by $16 billion in both years.
The Daily Signal provided a budget breakdown in one handy little chart:
Hide your wallets, it’s going to get ugly.
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Comments
In the spirit of the season, I offer this comment:
Perfecto!
You know that you are not going to be happy with anything that passes, if you are dead set against compromise.
Our system of government is such that the only way to pass a law is to get the agreement of the House, the Senate, and the President, or a veto-proof majority in both Houses of Congress. I submit that the purpose of this system is to force compromise.
Do the merits of the law mean anything to you, or just “compromise” for the sake of “compromise”? (Quote marked because it’s not a compromise as written, it’s a Republi…, excuse me, it’s another Republican surrender).
This isn’t “compromise”, it’s surrender.
It’s not surrender. It’s Boehner’s final Up Yours! to his detractors.
Here is my Congressman, Mark Meadows, on this budget.
For weeks, behind closed doors the outgoing speaker of the House has partnered with Democrats and Senate Leadership to craft a monstrosity of a budget deal that includes a clean $1.5 trillion debt ceiling increase, more non-defense spending and a host of policy provisions that no one except President Obama, Harry Reid, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner have had a chance to offer input into…
“Leadership’s determination to ram through this legislation days before we reach the debt limit, with zero input from rank-and-file members of Congress, demonstrates precisely what is wrong with Washington, D.C. As I laid out when I introduced the Motion to Vacate the Chair (H.Res 385), the speaker must not use the legislative calendar to ‘create crises for the American people, in order to compel members to vote for legislation.’ Nor should the speaker of the House push through extremely consequential legislation that every American has a stake in without allowing lawmakers a minimum of 72 hours to review it before voting.
” I submit that the purpose of this system is to force compromise.”
I think we can shorten that comment to “I submit”.
What you think and what the founders that created the system thought are at odds.
Compromise. Is compromise what defeated the Axis powers 70 years ago? Is compromise what brought down the Soviet Union?
Now Valerie you are instructed to compromise by agreeing with me. Otherwise you will lose the independent up votes.
Tell that to Barack Obama. Seems he didn’t get that memo.
Valerie | October 27, 2015 at 9:13 pm
You know that you are not going to be happy with anything that passes, if you are dead set against compromise.
Our system of government is such that the only way to pass a law is to get the agreement of the House, the Senate, and the President, or a veto-proof majority in both Houses of Congress. I submit that the purpose of this system is to force compromise.
They have run out of other people’s money, but they’re still spending. They are now spending our grandchildren’s ̶m̶o̶n̶e̶y̶ future.
May they all BURN IN HELL!
Boehner proves we were right to scream for his removal. Too bad he didn’t leave a long time ago. And McConnell proves he wants to be chased out too. That’s hard to understand.
The French had the right idea. Where’s a guillotine when you need one?
So, now Wimpy is in charge of federal government spending.
Except, who’s going to provide the burger today, the one that Wimpy says he’ll pay back tomorrow. Ain’t never gonna happen, nope!
Watch it there Bub, Wimpy was my mentor. There is nothing better than a burger for breakfast. j/k
I’m sick and fucking tired of politicians thinking we are idiots. ‘SAVES X TRILLION DOLLARS!!!’*
*Except we INCREASE the budget this year, and no actual cuts take place for at least 5 years, when we know goddamn well they won’t actually be put in place
Blatant LIES like this need to be called immediately for the bullshit that they are.
This is exactly the reason Cantor got kicked to the curb, for his laughable LIE of a budget.
This is exactly the reason Trump is leading in the polls (and Carson). Conservatives are sick of RINOs in Congress lying through their teeth to them, and they’re throwing their support to non-establishment candidates.
Went did we stop having a two party system?
1988
It’s a range rather than a precise date. The Clintons placed corruption firmly into the political mainstream by geting all cozy with America’s enemies for personal gain. The Republicans followed suit by making Denny Hastert, a card carrying member of the crony ridden, bipartisan Illinois combine, Speaker of the House. This was followed by fellow combine member, President Obama, being elected President while the media fed the electorate false information. Obama singularly combines the delusions of the far left with the avarice of the oligarchs.
It was a long process that will not be undone by one or two elections.
At this point, I would settle for one party that wasn’t engaged in an orgy.
January 20, 1965 with the arrival of the LBJ administration.
It’s all been downhill since with the brief exception of the Reagan years…
To be fair, it began with FDR.
Reagan may have put the brakes on it a bit, but it still moved forward.
I really wonder what force these people think will keep them safe when the government goes belly up?
Gonna be a whole lot of people with solid memories and nothing left to lose.
Unintended Consequences.
Invest in precious metals. Lead and brass are at the top of my list.
When someone says: “there’s no reason to vote against it.”. They really mean: “there are too many reasons to vote against it for me to count”
If we cut out every lying politician’s tongue out, there would such a glut on the market that Safeway would have to sell them for 99 cents a pound.
It’s worse than you think. This budget will exist far beyond its two year expiration date. When the President and Congress are of two different parties, this specific budget will be the base budget for continuing resolutions. The Democrats think they will get their senate majority back after the next election, which means whether or not the next President is a Democrat or Republican, their will be no agreement on a budget other than passing continuing resolutions to fund the government.
In other words, the fix is in. The only solution is for the Republicans to sweep the Presidecy and hold both chambers of Congress next year. And even that depends upon who the next president specifically is, who the Senate Majority Leader is (along with the Speaker of the House), and if the Republicans are willing to bow up the senate by nuking the filibuster.
Essentially this is the GOPe giving the finger to conservatives. This is the equivalent of putting a horse’s head in a bed. It’s a message and it’s meaning is very clear.
Essentially, we are screwed.
One last stab in the back by this scummy, cowardly squeaker.
His name will live in infamy.
This is mind blowing! What in the HELL is wrong in Washington?
The Republican establishment just put a stake in their heart and hammered it home!
The anger level for the average working guy or gal is astronomical!
Another BIG loss for our nation! Thanks Republicans!!
Do you blame the entire work crew when the guy whose last day it is intentionally throws a monkey wrench into the works an hour before shift change?
The only Republicans who had any real input into this deal were Boehner and McConnell, both of whom waited until the last minute in order to present a fait accompli. It is not being well received in the House and by many Senators.
Boehner cannot pass it alone. If it passes, it’s a surrender.
“Do you blame the entire work crew…”
Well, yes, yes we do, when the entire “work crew” is responsible for the mess.
“This is what Republican surrender looks like.” No!
At least a democrat campaigns as a democrat, these rats are not “surrender monkeys” or “spineless” or “stupid” they serve a hidden master-groups that could be labeled “Dark Movers”.
I hope everyone watched Frontline’s expo on the Immigration Battles
http://video.pbs.org/video/2365587196/
Thank you very much for the link. I have been wanting to see this program.
There are news articles out today about the “Palin Effect”, meaning the dysfunction of the GOP began with her. Of course this article has been reprinted endlessly in what we know as the “MSM Effect”. It should be noted the last election was won overwhelming by the GOP when Palin was at her peak. So this article is just more BS from the MSM. But, if there is an “effect” that is causing the GOP to dysfunction it is a combination of the RNC and Boehner. Together they are systematically dismantling the GOP. Their betrayal to conservatism will seemingly continue to Boehner’s last gasp as Speaker. Not only does the RNC approve of his actions, so does the Democrat party. Who needs unity like this?
I despise cry-boehner as much as I despise dingle-barry !
Reminds me of the scene in Dumb and Dumber when Jim Carrey gives the bad guy the brief case full of IOUs instead of the millions that was in it. He had spent the actual money and was too stupid to realize that he’s never going to be able to pay that much money back down the road.
FWIW, on behalf of my grandchildren, I just emailed my Congress critter to oppose this boondoggle budget. Do I expect it will make any difference? Probably not, but at least I’m on record opposed to surrender.
First, you have to understand this is not a “surrender” by the republicans, this is precisely what they want. Period.
If you want to change Washington, first you have to replace that group. They are the real problem.
The question is “Why did the Republican Leadership go for this budget deal?”
The answer is simple: Money. Or to be more complicated, Political Donations.
We are talking hundreds of billions of tax dollars, a small portion of which will be kicked back to the politicians who vote for this disaster, and by ‘small portion’ I mean millions upon millions. When the Dems rammed through their trillion dollar stimulus upon Obama’s ascent to the throne, they got an amazing amount of cash back. Now we get to see the next wave of hogs trampling for the trough.
You defend the GOPe on even days, in condescending, holier-than-thou fashion, and attack the GOPe on odd days. Wheel of Fortune personal politics?
Not to worry, we’ll get all those rabid conservatives voted out and then comrades we can go off to our glorious future of our liberal utopia.
Hope and change mfer, hope and change.
Neither this nor Ryan’s election as Speaker give me any reason to change my registration from “No Party Affiliation” back to Republican. At this rate, probably won’t happen during my remaining lifetime. Painful for me every time I try to enjoy the pics of my granddaughters sitting on my desk. Their future is so bleak.
Remember the GOP’s “Pledge To America”, what they pledged to do if only we’d give them a majority in the US House? I do.
Read ’em, keep score, and decide whether to laugh – or change your party affiliation:
1) Extending the temporary tax cuts passed under President George W. Bush in 2001 and 2003 for all taxpayers, including those for those earning over $200,000 ($250,000 for married couples).
2) A tax deduction for small businesses on up to 20 percent of their business income.
3) A hold on all unspent funds authorized as part of 2009’s stimulus bill or the 2008 TARP legislation.
4) Roll back government spending to 2008 levels, to save $100 billion while exempting “seniors, veterans, and our troops” from cuts; this would entail cutting 21 percent of the $477 billion budgeted for domestic discretionary spending.
5) A hiring freeze on all federal agencies except those necessary to national security.
6) A repeal of the 2010 health-care reform bill.
7) Reform of medical liability and health insurance practices.
8) A permanent ban on any federal funding for abortion.
9) A requirement that Congress post all bills online three days before a vote.
10) A requirement that lawmakers cite the specific constitutional authority that enables the legislation.
11) A ban on trials on U.S. soil for detainees currently held at Guantanamo Bay.
http://www.gop.gov/resources/library/documents/solutions/a-pledge-to-america.pdf
—–
By my count (off the top of my head, without researching), I count 9 definite fails out of 11, with 1 additional possible/probable fail, and 1 definite success (#11).
GOP pledge made September, 2010, two months before the midterm election.
But Henry, this Pledge To America was a 100% success! This set of lies won them the majority in the US House! Yay! Right?
80 trillion more reasons to be really pissed at the Republican so-called leadership team! Pitiful conduct!!