$830million in education funds will finally go to Texas source
» A federal vs. state fight: Last year, Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett (a Democrat) pushed through a provision effectively barring the state from receiving any federal education money unless it promised to spend all of it on education — something that didn’t happen when Obama pushed through his stimulus in 2009. The intention of the amendment was to get Texas to spend the money on education — which they’ve cut in recent years to help close a large deficit. The result of the amendment was that the money was stalled entirely, putting a stranglehold on Texas schools for nine months. Now Doggett’s amendment will go away — and the money will go to schools.
Having given the Republicans more than I am sure any Democrat in the House ever envisioned, it was surely unnecessary to pile on the District of Columbia and give them some frosting on what was already a very big cake. All along they said it is about ‘spending, spending, spending.’ How does the District of Columbia get into that equation?
DC’s House Delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton • Offering a pretty blunt take on the DC-damaging riders in the latest budget bill. One blocks the city from using its own money to fund abortions. The other allows funding for controversial school vouchers — without any consultation from local officials. (Vince Gray probably knows more than Boehner does on this; just a thought.) These are policies the city doesn’t want, but have to take because they’re technically part of the federal government. Norton has the most demeaning job in Congress. She has to basically take and take all these awful policies that get shoved down her constituents’ residents’ throats, and all she can give back is her opinion. She doesn’t even have a horse to jockey in the matter. source
Barack Obama, according to a senior official • Informing House Speaker John Boehner that he wouldn’t be budging on Planned Parenthood — despite the fact that Boehner had fought tooth-and-nail for the policy in a White House meeting for over an hour. The meeting itself proved to be something of a watershed moment for negotiations — proving that when they need to work together, they can pull it off. As much as it hurts. “Things got heated,” said senior White House adviser David Plouffe. “The president’s approach was to try and engage all the parties to come together. Going forward this can be a model.” source
Here’s what the National Journal says is happening: It looks like the latest numbers on Obama’s desk are a lot closer and show actual compromise. WIll it be enough to prevent a government shutdown? Well, we’ll see. The deal the National Journal has suggests a temporary extension to get through the weekend while details are hashed out at the beginning of the week. “While leadership staff insist there is no deal yet,” they write, “that caution belies significant progress in narrowing long-standing differences and the widening assumption in both parties that a shutdown will be averted and all that remains unknown is the precise procedural steps that will walk everyone back from the abyss.” Here are some quick hard numbers from their report:
$39Bthe size of the planned standard budget cuts from fiscal 2010
$550Bthe size of the defense budget through the end of 2011
nothe cuts to the EPA and Planned Parenthood aren’t in the deal source
3months without a budget, but with a lot of tightrope, in California source
» Keeping it under wraps: Legislative officials plan to reveal the details of the plan later this week but are currently keeping it hush-hush. You guys have already had to wait since July 1 for a firm budget plan, so what’s a few more days? You bastards are so impatient.
Nobody seems to understand that the economy is like the tide. When you’re in high tide no one thinks low tide is coming. Sometimes a crisis requires people to rethink how we got in this mess. That’s a healthy process.
Gray Davis • Who was recalled loudly and publicly in 2003 due to what were seen as some faulty economic policies. Now, seeing things from the outside in a much scarier situation, he’s glad that he’s not in the middle of this storm and stands behind his policies, but isn’t in the mood for vindication. “Every governor is faced with an economic challenge if they serve long enough,” he said. • source
Ahnold sez the Democrats Gov. Arnold Schwartzenegger isn’t very happy that the state’s budget situation has gotten so bad that they have to hand out IOUs. “We don’t have the money to pay our bills,” he said. “It’s a sad story.” The Governator blames the Democrats in the legislature for hewing too closely to labor interests at the cost of the state.
The Democrats say Ahnold On the other hand, the lefties that the man who once was pregnant in a movie is blaming claim that his demand that the budget be fixed all at once caused the crisis. “I think the first priority is fixing the deficit,” said Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, “and it seems the governor’s first priority now is fixing his legacy.” Ouch! source