No more extensions! Fix it now!

[rockon]

Talk about getting nothing done. During the Bush years everything was blamed on political gridlock,the Democrats spent the last two years with a complete majority and did nothing to fix our crazy spending problems. Now we have a house with a Republican majority agreeing to weekly budget extensions to avoid the inevitable. What will it take to get these people's attention and some action on this most urgent problem? Ideas anyone?

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

Shut it down. Refuse to raise the debt ceiling. Cut $1.67 trillion from the budget NOW.

[workpublic]

right now the majority of dems are voting against the extension

[BeenThere...DoneThat...]

...so what stops first?

[henryclay]

Thie is interesting. Let's hope it is not a forecast of things to come.

The real facts here are that both House and Senate Republicans are being played for fools by Senate Democrats and President Obama. This new CR is a total capitulation by Republicans who seem to be terrified that if they don’t give in, a government shutdown will occur for which Republicans will be blamed. Witness this statement made by House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) who said he didn’t want the bill to contain language defunding public broadcasting or Planned Parenthood, which were included in the long-term CR passed by the House, because “it would run into trouble in the Senate”. If that isn’t a complete surrender to the Democrats, I don’t know what is. Rogers has further stated that “a government shutdown is not an option, period”, stating that he and the House Republican leadership are removing the most potent weapon they have from this budget fight.

What Budget Cuts Does this CR Actually Contain?

The new House proposed CR contains a number of budget cuts for programs that were already destined to be cut in the President’s new 2012 budget. It also contains a number of cuts in programs where money was appropriated but not yet spent and also cuts from a number of earmarks that most members of Congress had already agreed should be cut. In other words, these are not serious budget cuts and designed primarily to appease the Senate Democrats and to ensure that they won’t put up a fight against this insignificant CR bill.

What is more interesting are the items that this CR does not address. For example:

•No cuts in funding for ObamaCare
•No cuts for Planned Parenthood No cuts for the National Endowment for the Arts
•No significant cuts for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
•No mention of eliminating the automatic funding for ObamaCare

In fact, the CR contains substantial funding for all of these programs that conservatives want to eliminate.

[rockon]

To me it seems like we need the newly elected people and the new majority in the house to put real pressure on everyone by drafting legislation that caps the debt ceiling, propose a budget with major spending reductions and get it to the senate and then stand at their door and draw attention to it until they either pass it or propose their own and then hand walk it to the President and tell him to move on it or risk shutting the government down. They need to do something so it is evident who is stopping passage of these cuts or they are no better then the previous congress in this regard.

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

This is what I was saying back after the election: This is the Republican Party's LAST CHANCE. They blow this, they will go down harder than the Democrats.

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

Mar 15, 2011 14:33:36 GMT -5 BeenThere...DoneThat... said:

...so what stops first?

The Cowboy Poetry Festival...

[workpublic]

.so what stops first?

the turtle tunnels?

www.wjhg.com/news/headlines/48278457.html

[rockon]

Work, There are examples of nonsense and inefficiencies in every department and they could make a big dent in their spending just by eliminating the obvious in each area including the millions given to the two major political parties each year.

[rockon]

palmbeach, Your right about the Republicans going down if they fail to do anything about it but we really need a change from just oscillating back and forth between Republicans and Democrats.

[privateinvestor]

No more extensions! Fix it now!


Sorry but they can't hear you!!...

BTW don't forget one little known fact our Federal Government has not approved a budget plan for fiscal year 2011 and may not for fiscal year 2012 the way it is going with so many roadblocks and lack of direction or leadership by the White House.


(Obama says this is a congress problem not his) As he plays golf or gets ready to watch the NCAA Basketball Playoffs and pick his winners..

[fairlycrazy23]

Nothing of any significants will be done until Congress has no other choice, neither party wants to take political fall out for cutting something some voter might like.

[billisonboard]

Mar 15, 2011 16:05:07 GMT -5 @privateinvestor said:

No more extensions! Fix it now!


...

(Obama says this is a congress problem not his) ...

The United States Congress is distinguished from nearly every other legislative body in the world by the degree to which it exercises control over the government's budgetary policies. Defined by the Constitution, this so-called "power of the purse" establishes Congress' primary role in fiscal policy; that is, taxation, borrowing, and spending decisions.

As American society has grown and become ever more complex, and as the role of the federal government in the national economy has steadily expanded, Congress has increasingly shared power over budgetary matters with the president and the executive branch. Congress has refashioned the president's role in the budget process, giving the chief executive a formal leadership role in the development of the budget and specifying the tools available for executing that role. findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb6642/is_3_18/ai_n28924827/

Was it constitutional for the Congress to share this power? What was the original intent of the Founders?

[privateinvestor]

President on budget: Congress' domain
At a news conference Friday, Obama defended the role he has played in seeking a compromise on spending cuts in the current federal budget to avoid a government shutdown. But he made it clear that resolving the impasse rests mainly with congressional leaders. "This is an appropriations task," he said, putting the issue firmly in Congress' domain.

[Gardening Grandma]

Mar 15, 2011 15:06:17 GMT -5 AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP said:

This is what I was saying back after the election: This is the Republican Party's LAST CHANCE. They blow this, they will go down harder than the Democrats.

I agree with you there, pbp. But if they do shut down the gov't it will go down harder on them as well.

[vonnie6200]

Mar 15, 2011 18:05:41 GMT -5 Gardening Grandma said:

Mar 15, 2011 15:06:17 GMT -5 AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP said:

This is what I was saying back after the election: This is the Republican Party's LAST CHANCE. They blow this, they will go down harder than the Democrats.

I agree with you there, pbp. But if they do shut down the gov't it will go down harder on them as well.

no - it could be as easily construed as the Dems unwillingness to compromise if the G shuts down - meanwhile most of the country will not be really affected

[Gardening Grandma]

Vonnie
My asumption is based on what happened the last time a Rep controlled House collided with a Dem pres and shut down the gov't.

Rightly or wrongly, the Reps took the brunt of the blame and lost their majority the next election.

History often does repeat itself.

[vonnie6200]

Mar 15, 2011 18:34:36 GMT -5 Gardening Grandma said:

Vonnie
My asumption is based on what happened the last time a Rep controlled House collided with a Dem pres and shut down the gov't.

Rightly or wrongly, the Reps took the brunt of the blame and lost their majority the next election.

History often does repeat itself.

Well it can - but it doesn't have to - they need to work hard, very hard at controlling the message

[vonnie6200]

History repeats itself - my sister argues this with me often - my view is that while history repeats itself, each repetition is a bit different - so the outcome can be different.

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

From Rush's Show today:

CALLER: Well, if there's no meaningful action taken on this budget, what will the Tea Party do and when.

RUSH: Third party. That's what will happen. The Tea Party will throw out, in nominating fights, the people they think are not up to snuff -- and if that doesn't work, eventually they're gonna go third party. I think what everybody misunderstands about this Tea Party business -- and I think it's one of the reasons why it's resented, and I think one of the reasons that the intelligentsia on both sides has problems with Palin ('cause she's associated with it) -- is that the Tea Party doesn't have a leader. It's not of Washington. It's not of Yale. It's not of Harvard. It is not of Brown or Temple or Trinity or any of these other places.

It's right out there in good, old-fashioned grassroots -- and if you want to kill the Tea Party, there's no one person to go to the kill it. You gotta kill principles. You've gotta wipe out total ideas. That constitutes a threat. So there's no real getting rid of the Tea Party when you boil it all down. So the Tea Party is... I mean, they do have some fundraising arms. I know this because I get the spam e-mail from 'em (and I say that with great affection) but look at Wisconsin. They haven't slackened off, their passion hasn't wavered. Their expectations are just as high as ever, and if they're not met, they have come to life and organized on the basis of real events and real principle.

They have not been talked into anything. They don't exist because some rabble-rouser has gotten 'em all worked up. The Tea Party people, that whole organization (as it's defined) is the epitome of genuine. So third party. Who knows where they'll go, if that's what they think it takes to effect the outcome that they want, especially they know that they're the majority of thinking in the country, too? They know that they represent the majority of thinking of the people in this country. So best answer I have to your question is, "What will they do if things don't manifest themselves to their pleasure?" is resort to ways that would, and they'll probably do third party. That's the best I can think. 'Cause it isn't gonna take 'em long to figure out that there's no influence on the current crop. They're not gonna waste their time on that, I don't think.

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

It's interesting- in a three-way race in Florida, Senator Marco Rubio beat the snot out of the Democrat, and the "Independent" (RINO / Other Democrat), and he got a sound majority precisely because he's serious, and voters believed him. Yet, the Republican Congress wants to govern like Charlie Crist- the other loser. As Rubio illustrated- it's a losing formula. And Rubio is exactly the kind of person who will lead a revolt and possibly a third party...

NO MORE CR's

www.redstate.com/rubiopress/2011/03/14/no-more-short-term-budget-crs/?loc=interstitialskip

Posted by Sen. Marco Rubio

Monday, March 14th at 8:58AM EDT

27 Comments
“Washington politicians of both parties scrambling to put together two and three week plans to keep funding the government, while not fundamentally changing the behavior that has gotten us into this mess to begin with.”Our country faces a brutal reality: for far too long, the federal government has been recklessly spending money it does not have. It is the reason we now have a $14 trillion debt that threatens to bankrupt our country and why, each day, our government borrows $4 billion - almost half from foreigners and most of that from China.

Despite the seriousness of this debt crisis, an absurd pattern has clearly developed in Washington. Last year, when they still controlled the House, Senate and White House, the Democrats failed to pass a budget at all. In the first two months of this year, Senate Democrat leaders have spent invaluable time not on tackling the debt but on re-authorizing the F.A.A. and reforming the patent system. Their only attempt at addressing our debt was a plan to cut $4.7 billion in spending, which only equals what our government borrows approximately every 30 hours alone.

Democrats’ unwillingness to engage on this issue is leading us closer to a catastrophic debt spiral that will irreversibly damage our government, our economy and ultimately our country.

The absurdity of what we have witnessed on the Senate floor is only eclipsed by the lack of leadership demonstrated by the White House, and a President who has been absent from this debate and even sent his lead negotiator on a five-day foreign trip.

All this has led to a very predictable outcome: Washington politicians of both parties scrambling to put together two and three week plans to keep funding the government, while not fundamentally changing the behavior that has gotten us into this mess to begin with.

Running our government on the fumes of borrowed spending is unacceptable, short-sighted and dangerous. I commend the efforts of House and Senate Republican leaders to deal with this, but I did not come to the U.S. Senate to be part of some absurd political theatre.

I will no longer support short-term budget plans. While attempts at new spending reductions are commendable, we simply can no longer afford to nickel-and-dime our way out of the dangerous debt America has amassed. It is time our leaders in Washington wake up and realize that we are headed for a debt disaster.

[floridayankee]

Mar 16, 2011 8:26:03 GMT -5 AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP said:

It's interesting- in a three-way race in Florida, Senator Marco Rubio beat the snot out of the Democrat, and the "Independent" (RINO / Other Democrat), and he got a sound majority precisely because he's serious, and voters believed him. Yet, the Republican Congress wants to govern like Charlie Crist- the other loser. As Rubio illustrated- it's a losing formula. And Rubio is exactly the kind of person who will lead a revolt and possibly a third party...

I really like Rubio....he has great potential. I like the end of that quote...

Washington politicians of both parties scrambling to put together two and three week plans to keep funding the government, while not fundamentally changing the behavior that has gotten us into this mess to begin with.

Running our government on the fumes of borrowed spending is unacceptable, short-sighted and dangerous. I commend the efforts of House and Senate Republican leaders to deal with this, but I did not come to the U.S. Senate to be part of some absurd political theatre.

I will no longer support short-term budget plans. While attempts at new spending reductions are commendable, we simply can no longer afford to nickel-and-dime our way out of the dangerous debt America has amassed. It is time our leaders in Washington wake up and realize that we are headed for a debt disaster.

Very well said. Now if we can get more politicians in both parties to actually believe in this, maybe we would see a little glimmer of hope and change after all.

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

Mar 15, 2011 18:05:41 GMT -5 Gardening Grandma said:

Mar 15, 2011 15:06:17 GMT -5 AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP said:

This is what I was saying back after the election: This is the Republican Party's LAST CHANCE. They blow this, they will go down harder than the Democrats.

I agree with you there, pbp. But if they do shut down the gov't it will go down harder on them as well.

I think you're wrong. The President can't have it both ways. He can't refuse to participate insisting that spending is the Constitutional responsibility of the House (it is); and then when the House passes a budget, delay and demagogue the issue. He can a) Sign it; or b) VETO it. But enough games.