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13 Apr 2011 15:23

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U.S.: Obama has harsh words for the Paul Ryan budget

  • The fact is [Paul Ryan’s budget] is less about reducing the deficit than it is about changing the basic social compact in America.
  • President Barack Obama • Speaking about Rep. Paul Ryan’s “Path to Prosperity,” which liberals have bemoaned for placing too much additional burden on the financially poor. Whatever you may think about Ryan’s proposal, the claim the President is making seems astute. The ideological battle between Democrats and Republicans in modern America is much more about public vs. private function than it ever truly ends up being about spending; both parties spend a ton without a second thought (the Republican’s ability to whitewash this fact must rank as a political marvel of the highest order). Rather, the Republican consistency has usually been to cut government’s role in social equity whenever they can, shredding elements of the social compact being only a political issue, not a moral one. As Paul Ryan said, his proposal isn’t just a budget, it’s a “cause.” source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Apr 2011 00:56

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Politics: Ron Paul trashes Paul Ryan’s budget proposal

  • We are dealing with a problem in Washington as a budgetary accounting problem and that’s not it. It’s a philosophy problem.
  • Ron Paul • Ripping into the terms in which the budget debate has been framed; his gripe is that the fundamental acceptance of America as a welfare state isn’t being challenged. He also trashed Paul Ryan’s budget plan, saying that it wouldn’t “come close” to “solv[ing] our problems.” This was all in a speech in Iowa; Paul is said to be leaning towards a third presidential bid. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Apr 2011 23:26

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Politics: Paul Ryan: Tax the rich? Nah, just cut services for the poor

  • 67% of Paul Ryan’s spending cuts hit poor Americans source
  • » But don’t worry, not everyone gets the shaft under Ryan’s proposal. Although 2/3 of the savings derived from his plan come by cutting services for poor people, his budget does firmly protect–surprise!–George Bush’s tax cuts for the rich. In all fairness, letting those cuts expire would increase tax rates for the highest earners by an appalling 4%, but it would also save the country an additional $1 trillion over the next ten years. So let’s get this straight: Ryan wants to cut services for the poor and retain absurdly-low tax rates for billionaires. Wasn’t this guy supposed to be the new face of the Republican party?
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Apr 2011 15:58

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U.S.: Democrats, Republicans can’t settle terms of spending cuts

  • $73 billion the amount of spending cuts the Democrats say they’ve agreed to in an effort to avoid a looming government shutdown
  • $33 billion the amount the Republicans say is actually being cut under the Democratic compromise, a number they consider unacceptable source
  • » So where’d the $40 billion go? Basically, the Democrats had agreed to cut spending by $73 billion, but that’s explicitly based off the levels President Obama wanted in his budget. Since that budget hasn’t passed, the Republicans are arguing that the cuts are really only $33 billion less than current spending levels (which is rather hard to argue). Notwithstanding the dispiriting accounting tomfoolery going on here, though, this is supposedly a deal between the two parties, and between position D (don’t cut spending) and position R (cut tons of spending), even a $33 billion cut strikes us as an entirely reasonable compromise — both numbers are a tiny, tiny slice of the budget in any event, so the quibble seems more symbolic than functional.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Apr 2011 13:56

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Politics: Where will Obama come down on Paul Ryan’s proposal?

  • And, finally, there’s talk that we have a president who’s a Democrat — the party that created the American social contract of the 20th century. Initially, he focused on reshaping and extending that contract into the 21st. Now that the Republicans want to repeal it all, he’s nowhere to be found. Has anybody seen him? Does he still exist?
  • Washington Post opinion writer Harold Meyerson • From his editorial yesterday about Rep. Paul Ryan’s proposed budget. We find this pertinent because reflect’s what is perhaps the most unforeseeable and (if you’re a liberal, or even a moderate, or a conservative who believes in these social contracts) nerve-wracking element in the looming debate over Ryan’s budget, namely — will President Obama stand or fold? In Washington, few things have become as familiar a sound as the President’s voice saying words like “bipartisanship” and “compromise,” but his opposition rarely if ever cedes any credit for this, and rarer still gives anything back. Will this latest effort to privatize large swaths of the social contract be worth fighting for, or will the President take another opportunity to thanklessly bargain away his base’s enthusiasm with his political rivals? It’s truly hard to say. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Apr 2011 23:12

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Politics: Chuck Schumer okay with Tea Party-pandering as long as budget passes

  • We take it for granted that because of the intense political pressure being applied by the Tea Party, [John Boehner] needs to play an outside game as well as an inside game. As long as he continues to negotiate, it’s OK by us if he needs to strike a different pose publicly. Since last week, the two sides have made steady progress on a package of $33 billion in cuts.
  • Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer • Calling out John Boehner, who’s insisting that no deal has been reached with the Democrats, and that $33 billion in cuts just isn’t enough. Who’s fibbing? We’ll find out by Friday, when either a budget will pass, or the government will shut down. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Apr 2011 21:26

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Politics: Senate Republicans endorse balanced-budget amendment; policy wonks’ heads explode

  • Every single Senate Republican has endorsed a constitutional amendment that would’ve made Ronald Reagan’s fiscal policy unconstitutional. That’s how far to the right the modern GOP has swung.
  • Ezra Klein • Analyzing (demolishing is more like it) the merits of the Balanced Budget Amendment, which all 47 Senate Republicans have endorsed. The amendment would require 2/3 majorities in both chambers of Congress in order to enact any tax increases, and wouldn’t allow total spending per year to exceed 18% of GDP. Bruce Bartlett, former domestic policy advisor to Reagan, has said that the proposed amendment is “quite possibly the stupidest constitutional amendment I think I have ever seen,” and that it “looks like it was drafted by a couple of interns on the back of a napkin.” Ouch. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

01 Apr 2011 23:30

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Politics: Americans woefully misinformed on government funding of NPR

  • 5% share of the federal budget that Americans believe goes toward funding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
  • .01% share of the federal budget that actually goes toward funding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting source
  • » That 5% figure represents the median prediction Americans made when asked how much of the US government’s spending goes toward funding NPR’s parent organization. Very off-base, yes–but that’s just the median guess! Insanely, 5% of respondents believed that half of the country’s entire budget is given to the Corporation of Public Broadcasting. Relatedly, the average respondent thought foreign aid accounts for 10% of the budget, when it’s really more like 1%.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Apr 2011 13:48

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Politics: Scott Brown defends the poor

  • “A wholesale reduction in spending, without considering economic, cultural, and social impacts is simply irresponsible. We must also be mindful that many of the proposed spending reductions would disproportionately affect the neediest among us.
  • Sen. Scott Brown • In a letter to Senate Republicans. This is notable primarily due to how rare it is for a Republican legislator to speak so bluntly on behalf of the poor. He also voiced flat opposition to a government shutdown. Only time will tell what these words translate into policy-wise. Still, Brown is looking more and more like a true moderate Republican, a rare site in Congress these days. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 Mar 2011 11:10

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Politics: Biden: Republicans and Democrats nearing deal in budget talks

  • $33 billion in cuts in the latest, tentative budget proposal source
  • » Still not a sure thing: Joe Biden, who has been negotiating a budget with the Republicans, says that he and Republicans are now “working off the same number” in their talks. However, John Boehner’s spokesman made it clear that “there is no deal until everything is settled.” If this budget passes, the cuts will fall drastically short of the $100 billion Republicans pledged to cut during last November’s elections. If it doesn’t, a government shutdown will become a near-certainty.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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