Washington Report: Government Stays Open For Business As Budget Debate Continues; Republicans Reveal 2012 Budget

 

 

 

• Budget Battle Continues as Congress Avoids Government Shutdown

The White House and congressional lawmakers narrowly averted a government shutdown last week after two sides finalized a last-minute, albeit tentative, deal into the wee hours of Saturday morning. However, the move will not end further debate between the GOP and Democrats, setting the stage for a major battle over government spending for months to come.

Although the details of last week’s compromise have yet to be fully disclosed, the measure is expected to slash roughly $40 billion in spending but it will not call for the elimination of funding for Planned Parenthood or limitations on environmental regulations, major sticking points in rounds of negotiations. President Obama reportedly refused to budge on cutting funds for family planning. The president, however, had to agree to $1 billion more in spending cuts in exchange for removal of a rider in the budget targeting the provider of reproductive health care.

Both chambers passed measures to fund the federal government through Thursday and are expected to vote on a final bill to fund it through September this week. After signing the bill Saturday morning, Obama maintained that the deal will result in the largest annual spending cuts in history while still allowing for investments in the nation’s future.

“This has been a lot of discussion and a long fight,” says House Speaker John Boehner after he met with his party late Friday night to discuss the deal and win support. “But we fought to keep government spending down because it really will in fact help create a better environment for job creators in our country.”

In another test of Boehner’s leadership, he struggled to balance the line between satisfying insurgent Republican freshmen eager to keep campaign promises of making deep cuts in government spending while trying to compromise with congressional Democrats and the White House. That tension will continue this week when the on-going resolution goes to the House floor for a vote.

Florida Rep. Allen West, one of two African American Republicans in the House, is already planning to vote against it. “I’m not going to be supportive [of the CR vote] because once again we’re talking about how less we can do. We’ve got to develop the credibility. If I can’t do this little thing, what’s the trust and confidence that I can take care of these next bigger issues,” West says, citing upcoming debate and votes on the debt ceiling and the 2012 budget.

Democrats aren’t a sure bet, either.

“The devil’s in the details. They said $39 billion. I want to know what percentage is in discretionary spending and what percentage is in mandatory,” says Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-North Carolina). “I’m on the fence, too, until I can see the details.”

Last week House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) unveiled a 2012 budget that Republicans say offers a “path to prosperity.” It would privatize Medicare and turn Medicaid into a community development block grant program that could mean higher medical costs for beneficiaries. It also lowers taxes for corporations and wealthy citizens while reducing benefits such as Pell Grant awards, reducing them to 2008 levels.

Most important, it sets the stage for what will certainly be a bitter partisan debate. Fresh off of the continuing resolution battle, conservative House Republicans, including most if not all the freshman class, will be in no mood for compromise while Democrats

fight to preserve programs that the nation’s most vulnerable populations rely on. In fact, President Obama will deliver a major speech on the budget Wednesday, laying out an aggressive plan for deficit reduction that would include reforming entitlements such as Medicare and Medicaid. He also is expected to call for higher taxes for the wealthy who can afford to contribute a little bit more.

Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday morning, Senior White House Advisor David Plouffe said that there has to be a “balanced approach” to deficit reduction.

“We’re not going to win the future in this country unless we invest in education, in research and development, in innovation and infrastructure. So that’s going to be his North Star in these spending decisions. How do we make sure that it is balanced, that we are investing in the things that are going to allow us to win the future?” Plouffe said.

Congressional Black Caucus chairman Emmanuel Cleaver (D-Missouri) did not mince words in his rejection of the Republican budget, however. He asserts: “It is clear the Republican Leadership’s budget definitely charts a different course. Claiming that their reckless and

draconian cuts will benefit our children and grandchildren is preposterous. This budget does not support, protect or uplift hardworking American families, it will significantly harm them.” He also maintains that the GOP is loyal to “the rich and big business at the expense of our seniors and our most vulnerable communities,” declaring the GOP’s budget proposal a “road to nowhere.”

Soon the nation will hit its legal debt limit, and Congress will be asked to raise it. Both Republican leaders and rank-and-file members have repeatedly maintained that they will only vote for raising the debt ceiling in exchange for deep cuts in government spending. Speaking on Fox News Sunday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Virginia) said that the U.S. was facing “a fiscal train wreck.”

“There is no way we Republicans are going to support increasing the debt limit without guaranteed steps being put in place to ensure the spending doesn’t get out of control again.”

Expect this brawl to grow in ferocity.