"In January, the Senate joined the House in passing "pay-as-you-go" rules to require Congress to pay for new discretionary spending. On Feb. 12, President Obama signed the bill. "Now Congress will have to pay for what it spends, just like everybody else," Obama crowed.
Less than a month later, Obama and fellow Democrats are busily demonizing a lone senator for pushing Washington to spend responsibly. It seems this administration is all for fiscal restraint - as long as you don't mean it.
The story began last week when Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., blocked Senate passage of a bill to extend for one month unemployment and Cobra health insurance benefits, and other spending, because it did not comply with the paygo rule. As the Baseball Hall of Famer explained, "When 100 senators are for a bill, and we can't find $10 billion to pay for it, there's something the matter, seriously the matter, with this body." For that, he is Satan."
The senator who dared believe in 'paygo'
Replies
38Beach FanaticAuthor
Where should we cut it from?
Serious question - the crux of the current fiscal cluster is that we all agree it SHOULD be cut, but then can never agree on WHERE.
What are good places that have some leeway in their budget that we can get this money from?
Not all of the stimulus money has been spent - why not take it from there??
SoWal Expert
I wondered about that too - and there was the money that got "paid back" for the bailouts.
Beach FanaticAuthor
I wondered about that too - and there was the money that got "paid back" for the bailouts.
By law the repaid Tarp funds can only be used to pay down the debt.
By the way I just read that this spending bill is not only for extending unemployment benefits but is also for extension of the highway trust fund, satellite television and other expenditures.
SoWal Insider
Not all of the stimulus money has been spent - why not take it from there??
That's exactly what Bunning wanted, and from what I understand, he got, at least, a vote on it. The bill, now passed will have to be funded by Treasury. The bond presses are spinning fast and furious to finance the debt.
Beach Fanatic
So we aren't paying unemployment benefits because we don't have the money for them ................... did we stop spending money on wars in Afghanistan and Iraq too? :roll:How about using some of the stimulus money just sitting around? Its a moot point, anyway. Bunning is not dumb. He knew no one would really be denied their unemployment benefits and was just trying to make a valid point.
I think this Senator is being a butt, but he has a valid point - $10 Billion is a drop in the bucket in the federal budget. Why can't we shuffle some stuff around and trim a little pork to find this money?
SoWal Insider
He's not dumb....he's a dumb redneck
SWGB
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Really - that is what you have concluded from my discussion on this thread??
This thread is not about a possible tax increase that would keep people from starving. It is about about making sure that our politicians live up to the Paygo law that they just passed. If they want unemployment benefits to continue (and I have no problem with that) and they don't have the money, then cut it from some other wasteful program or pork. :angry:
My point is that principle is still above compassion even in your response.
Beach Fanatic
My point is that principle is still above compassion even in your response.
The debate is not principle over compassion, it is compassion for everyone against compassion for a relative few. Running up the debt hurts our children and grandchildren. Giving money to 10 million people today and borrowing the money to do it hurts 300 million in the future.
SoWal Insider
The debate is not principle over compassion, it is compassion for everyone against compassion for a relative few. Running up the debt hurts our children and grandchildren. Giving money to 10 million people today and borrowing the money to do it hurts 300 million in the future.
Short term vs. long term thinking.
Beach Fanatic
Tom Coburn to pull a Jim Bunning?
Update on unemployment benefits and PayGo...From the Politico...
Update on unemployment benefits and PayGo...From the Politico...
But now, Senate Republicans are lining up to battle Democrats if they try to push through another 30-day extension of the jobless benefits without finding a way to pay for them first.Sounds like we'll hear more about this in the coming days unless something starts to move. Who will win the public relations battle this time?
Leading the charge this time around will likely be Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who has built up far more goodwill with the leadership than has Bunning, the 78-year-old former Major League Baseball pitcher who has a testy relationship with his home-state counterpart, Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
Coburn said it?s ?highly doubtful? he?d let Democrats quickly pass an extension this week to keep benefits going until May 5 ? if the $10 billion isn?t offset with spending cuts.
Senators are eager to get work done before they leave town at week?s end for a two-week Easter recess. But Coburn says he?ll suffer no heartburn if GOP objections cut into the highly anticipated break.
?It?s doesn?t bother me at all,? Coburn said. ?We?re here to work.?
Tom Coburn to pull a Jim Bunning - Manu Raju - POLITICO.com
Beach Fanatic
It's official, Congress is going home and there's no extension of unemployment benefits. From The Hill..
Democratic and Republican senators reached an agreement late Thursday to pay for the $9.2 billion cost of a one-week extension. House Democratic leaders, however, balked at the proposal to offset the cost of the package because it would violate a tradition of not counting emergency spending measures against the budget.Can someone tell me how this issue continues to be an emergency time after time? In a few more days, will it be considered an emergency again and again and again? To me this isn't a Dem vs Repub issue as the Senate developed a bi-partisan solution. This is a mess..
Edited
SWGB
It's official, Congress is going home and there's no extension of unemployment benefits. From The Hill..
Can someone tell me how this issue continues to be an emergency time after time? In a few more days, will it be considered an emergency again and again and again? To me this isn't a Dem vs Repub issue as the Senate developed a bi-partisan solution. This is a mess..
If you don't have money for food or electricity (especially in the north) you might consider it an emergency. Perhaps they should stop by their local GOP headquarters for assistance.
Beach Fanatic
Swgb, I am guessing yours was a drive by post. As I posted, the Senate Dems and Senate GOP had a solution but the House Dems want to keep calling it an "emergency" instead of paying for it. We knew this was coming at least as early as the beginning of March. How long does it take to move from "emergency" to "expected result" of existing program
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