Senate crawls its way through the Continuing Resolution
March 20, 2013 at 10:18 am in News by Dustin Siggins 7 Comments
This week, the Senate is working to pass its version of the Continuing Resolution necessary to keep the federal government’s doors open. It looks like it will happen:
The Senate failed to reach an agreement Monday on further amendments to the continued spending resolution that would prevent a government shut down by funding federal spending through the fiscal year.
Despite some GOP opposition, the Senate voted 63-35 on a motion to end debate on the bill after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said a few senators would not agree to let the bill move forward without votes on their amendments. The vote showed there is enough support for final passage of the bill, expected later this week.
The good news is that sequestration is held to in the Senate bill. The bad news is, of course, that it spends so much in the first place.
The major difference between the House and Senate bills appear to be flexibility given to non-defense agencies, which is a partial return to the normal order of budgeting, something the House did not do:
But the Senate bill adds three full appropriations measures to the House version. The House bill, H.R. 933, funded Defense, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs programs, while the Senate version adds appropriations for Agriculture, Homeland Security and the Commerce, Justice and Science funds.
Similar to the House-passed Continuing Resolution, the Senate bill is very flawed. It includes a lot of funding for Obamacare and spends too much overall. As Tea Party Patriots noted last week about the House bill:
In short, the House CR is a deeply flawed piece of legislation compared with what Tea Party activists know is necessary to stave off a fiscal crisis. However, by holding to sequestration and moving forward with some efforts to not implement Obamacare, the House deserves credit for not letting President Obama bully and intimidate it into delaying sequestration and/or allowing Obamacare to be fully implemented.
Of course, Politico reported last night that Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) has slowed things significantly – all for “a vote on his amendment to protect funding for air traffic controllers at rural airports in states like his own.” While this won’t add funding to the CR, it does raise three questions: first, why is the Senator, a member of the Tea Party Caucus in the Senate, worried about cuts in his state? Doesn’t he believe cuts are necessary, as a general principle, and better for America overall? Second, by shifting funds to his district, he’ll send the cuts elsewhere – won’t that create more of a turf battle between him and another Senator, thus causing more issues within the CR?
Politico says Senator Moran’s tactics won’t do much to delay the actual bill. Passage is still likely tomorrow. This means we’ll see Congress actually work together for something that isn’t entirely bad for the nation.
Of course, Tea Party activists won’t be pleased with the final legislation the President signs into law. Will the final legislation do even as much as the House’s bill on Obamacare? That remains to be seen, but it is likely that modest effort will be signed into law. Certainly, it won’t repeal the law, and it will only slow the rate of growth in the federal budget. And that may be all activists can get through the Beltway crowd for now.
However, the news isn’t all bad. Three years ago, the discussion was about how much to raise in taxes. Today, the debate is how much to reduce spending increases. Soon, the discussion will be about how much to cut.
Sadly there is a segment of our population that believes the government should care for us all. But that is not the way the world works. Each of us is responsible for our own life, our own actions, and our own family.
All US American citizens born here after 1776, and any relatives of these citizens living here today have the most at stake, as well as the most right to be involved in the future of (this) our nation.
-Disabled American Patriot-
Though my family (as American citizens ) only goes back to 1925,and I have worked for over 40 years and paid my taxes.
I hereby volunteer 100 hours of my time a year for the rest of my life to the maintenance of a peaceful government.
Not good enough there should not be any funding for Obama care at all still need more cut. Need to start in the Government Waste first (That is Waste spending for personal use like vacations and so on haircuts, favors to lobbyist,giving money and plans to the brother hood that will save more that a year’s worth for Our Country much stop this now take care of it)
Lets auction off every item bought with taxpayer money in the possession
of government employees to help with worthwhile programs. I will give.
.10 cents apiece for 9mm bullets.
What bothers me most in this matter is the shere aggogance of the elites. Not only has a deliberate violation of their oaths of office become passe, in deliberately refusing to consider a balanced budget, but in willfull debt and theft.
The Cypriot stuation is indicative of the attitude of a statement made by the president on the ca,paign trail, that the national debt was “largely ours” in the essence that he thought he could simply renege on domesticaly held bonds and sieze dmestic savings.
Please to note that the proposed increase of taxes of 1 trillion dollars, bearing in mind that the current tax haul is roughly 4 trillion of an alleged GDP of 16 trillion, of which 6 trillion is government spending that represents no saleable good, which eaves the tangible goods in trade of 12 trillion with the govern,ent siezing a third, now planning to sieze just short of a half and giving the Hitlerian “I will be good”.
Can someone please take a shell game to the congress and explain to them where the pea is?
Let me see- the GDP is 16 trillion, the government spends 6 trillion, of which 1.5 trillion comes back as a kickback in the form of taxes on government workers, so we’ll call it 4.5 trillion off the 16 trillion, about 11.5 trillion.
The tax haul is about 4 trillion leaving 7.5 trillion available to the private sector to work with- and now demanding another trillion before a budget will even be considered.
Anyone besides me see the Cypriot solution as part of this outfits plans?