Webb, Warner push Senate to reject efforts to balance budget on backs of federal workers
U.S. Sens. Jim Webb (D-VA) and Mark R. Warner (D-VA) are urging Majority Leader Harry Reid to “reject any proposals that call for pay freezes or other forms of compensation reduction for federal workers, or significant reductions in the federal workforce” to offset the tax extenders that need to be passed by the end of this year.
Along with Sens. Ben Cardin (D-MD), Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD), Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Tom Harkin (D-IA), and Carl Levin (D-MI), the senators wrote to the Majority Leader on behalf of federal workers in Virginia who are currently in the middle of a two-year pay freeze.
“To ask these hard-working individuals – the very people who keep our food supply safe, our borders secure and develop life-saving technologies – to make further sacrifices is simply unfair,” the senators wrote. “Federal employees are facing the same challenges as other middle-class families during this difficult economic time. … While we can all agree on the importance of job growth and deficit reduction, we cannot balance the budget on the backs of federal employees who carry out the business of the American people every day.” Read more
Balanced budget amendment fails in House vote
A measure proposed by Sixth District Congressman Bob Goodlatte that would set into motion a process to amend the United States Constitution to require that Congress pass a balanced budget fell short today of the two-thirds majority needed for passage.
“It is a simple concept – you can’t spend more than you take in,” Goodlatte said in a statement after the vote. “Business owners, individuals and families all across this country understand this concept and live by it in their own lives. They should expect nothing less from the federal government, and yet Congress continues to prove it cannot make the tough decisions on its own. We must rein in the skyrocketing deficit spending that is discouraging investment and threatening to bankrupt our nation.”
The final vote was 261 in favor of the amendment and 165 opposed.
The measure failed in large part due to Democrats voting against it in large numbers.
A similar measure introduced by Goodlatte in 1995 passed the House and fell one vote short of passage in the Senate.
“I remain committed to passing a balanced budget amendment,” Goodllate said. “I appreciate the strong support H.J. Res 2 received from dozens of Democrats, and I look forward to working with them in the future to build even more support for this much-needed institutional reform. It is the only way to ensure that Congress curtails its spending on an annual basis regardless of which party is in control.”
Chris Saxman: Cold Fusion-Bull Durham Edition
After sitting in the stands for a doubleheader between the Pirates and the Nationals, one becomes keenly aware that the only thing that works in DC is professional baseball.
Everything pretty much to the west of the functionally unimpressive Nationals stadium can be summed up by the scene in Bull Durham where veteran minor leaguer Crash Davis coaches his coach to scare the underperforming Durham Bulls.
The coach takes an arm full of bats and throws them into the shower/locker room and reels off this little gem to the scared young ballplayers.
“You guys. You lollygag the ball around the infield. You lollygag your way down to first. You lollygag in and out of the dugout. You know what that makes you? (quick snap turn to assistant coach Larry) Larry!”
Larry “Lollgaggers”
Coach (disgustedly) “Lollygaggers”
Baseball is a game in which the rules and the field are close to perfection. During a doubleheader, one is treated to many routine ground balls, fly outs and close to 600 pitches. After awhile one comes to the inescapable conclusion that the people who laid out the field, made up the rules, the equipment and the stadiums did so with the game in mind. The product. Over the decades and generations, fads and trends come and go but the game lives on because it is bigger than the players, owners or, yes, even the fans.
Granted someone has to play and watch the game and it has become a very large business, but baseball simply works. Just watch how close so many routine infield ground outs are. How close strikes and balls really are. How much a fastball moves.
So when steroids or a designated hitter or aluminum bats are inserted into the game, the game changes. Dramatically. Headquarters thinks that the designated hitter rule’s only true value to the game is its demonstration of its devaluing of the game. Translated – it shows that it is unnecessary and actually weakens the game. Think Roger Clemens and Nolan Ryan would throw that hard on the inside part of the plate if they had to stand in the batter’s box in the next inning? Ryan probably would – he was just that mean.
Your reality changes when you have to stand in the box and be two feet from where a 95 mph fastball is about to be thrown with tremendous precision.
So when a team plays with the “joy and verve” (Annie Savoy quote about the Durham Bulls) that the Pittsburgh Pirates have, the world is better. The Pirates have not had a winning season in 18 years. Yes, in a row. For me, that’s B.C. Before Children.
Now, everyone – and I mean EVERYONE – in baseball knows that in order to WIN in baseball you need two things. Just two. Say it with me….pitching and….right, defense.
Every playoff season, the television and radio audience is treated to the former players who call the games and say “you know, it’s going to come down to pitching and defense.” For some reason it’s never “defense and pitching”, they always say the word pitching first and then say defense. Pitching and defense. Pitching and defense. Peanut butter and jelly. Bacon and eggs. Speeding and ticket. Drunk and stupid. No secrets here.
Government and….3…2….1…..spending.
In August, the federal government will have $300 billion in bills it has said it would pay. The problem is revenue is only expected to be about $170 billion. Ooops.
Now, the people who spend their days actually trying to get elected to solve the nation’s problems and/or prevent them in the first place have not balanced a budget but 12 times since 1940. No one player or team is at fault here – which is the genius of that game.
The Senate has not passed a budget in over 800 days but apparently the guy who chairs the committee whose sole job is to pass a budget for the federal government to operate thinks, okay…okay, believes that the people in America who actually pay federal income taxes need to pay $2,000,000,000,000.00 more. Annually. We need to pay more every year according to the people who are afraid to pass a budget for the last two years.
Lollygaggers.
Let’s see, we are short $130,000,000,000.00 next month, right? Okay. So it’s decision time. The President said to those of us who already eat our peas that we need to “eat your peas.” We eat right, exercise, pay our taxes, employ people, drive not more than 10 miles over the posted limit and get tipsy when the Pirates, Steelers or Penguins win but in the comfort of our homes in which we are paying our mortgage.
Yes, we eat our peas. The problem for the Lollygaggers is that come August they have to decide between paying the mortgage and making the people who voted for them eat peas. Had we not gone so disastrously into debt to pay for government operations, we would not have to decide between paying the bank and funding basic operations.
A balanced budget requirement would solve this problem. Like pitching and defense in baseball, taking in more than you spend in government works.
But like Nuke Laloosh, the gifted rookie pitcher Crash Davis is training for the Show, the lollygaggers like striking out their opponents. Older, wiser Crash teaches him to pitch ground balls. Why? Strikeouts are fascist and ground outs? They’re more democratic.
The Pirates ERA has dropped considerably because their pitching coach is having them pitch to contact which creates more ground balls and fly outs. Now, they are winning.
Democracy, like baseball, is a beautiful organism when the basic rules are applied.
The problem in DC is that the basic rules are ignored, thrown out or amended into a state of complexity that demands stasis for mere survival. In baseball, it’s called lollygagging.
It’s time to get back to basics. Pitching and Defense. Spend less. Pay off debt. Diet and exercise. No more continuing resolutions. Pass a budget. Stop policing every corner of the world. Incentivize manufacturing. Wealth creation is good. Greed is bad. Greek yogurt good. Greek fiscal model bad.
He chose universal health care in a massive recession. They said “wrong choice”
They said “listen” and he said, “yeah, to me….eat your peas.”
And they said “Next”.
Larry?
Lollygagger.
Column by Chris Saxman
Vanke hits the air with two TV spots
Sixth District independent congressional candidate Jeff Vanke has hit the air with two spots that are running in cable markets across the district.
The spots tout Vanke’s push for a balanced federal budget and his pledge to serve only six terms if elected – a dig at nine-term incumbent Republican Congressman Bob Goodlatte’s 1992 pledge to do the same.
The spots are running in every Sixth District cable market but the Covington market.
You can watch the ads below.
Edited by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
Bob Goodlatte: Balancing the federal budget
Column by Bob Goodlatte
www.house.gov/goodlatte
It is no secret that the American people are facing a very tough economic climate. Families and small businesses are cutting back on expenses. As economic uncertainty continues, many across our nation are looking to the government for leadership during this difficult time. Read more
Business and Politics: Who balances the budget?
Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
(Third and final installment in a series.)
Are we ever going to be able to balance the federal budget again? That’s the question that has fiscal conservatives like me picking through the fiscal proposals of John McCain and Barack Obama searching for needles in the haystack.
The bad news: Neither candidate is showing the kind of fiscal discipline that Bill Clinton did back in the 1990s, when we ended that decade with budget surpluses that have since turned into massive federal deficits with the tax-cutting and dollar-spending fervor of the Bush Republicans.
Chris Saxman: The Holy Grail/Gang of Six Edition
Posted by afp on July 20, 2011 · Leave a Comment
My academic recollection from the freshman fall of 1983 is the Monty Python classic movie “The Holy Grail”. Ah, memories. *sniff* One does not develop a working knowledge of such a piece of cinematic brilliance by watching it in a single sitting. Two dozen viewings should not be considered a waste of time as that film skewers most governing political systems and the dialogue must, must mind you, be submitted to memory.
If you have never seen “The Holy Grail”, go now. If you have, please enter the hard drive portion of your brain and ask yourself – just what is the Holy Grail of the United States federal government?
If you answered – money – you are warm. If you answered – spending money – you are getting warmer. If you answered – spending Other People’s Money – you hit that out of the ballpark!
OPM. Other People’s Money.
John’s going to Las Vegas. Before he leaves for the airport, John’s next door neighbor says “Man, I wish I was going to Vegas! You lucky duck! Here’s $250, please play roulette and put it all on red for me. Okay? John takes the money and says “Not a problem – good luck!” John arrives home and his neighbor runs out and asks, “Hey, did I win?” John says “Sorry buddy, you lost. But you had a great steak dinner!”
Oh the view one has of money that one has not earned.
Enter the Gang of Six – Senators Warner (Va), Durbin, Crapo, Chambliss, Coburn and the one I can never remember….Fonzarelli, I think. Anyway, these senators saw the train wreck coming and ordered in some pizza and beer and went to work.
Today the Grand Poobah of the Loyal Order of O.P.M, Barack Obama, blinked and said he supported the Gang of Six plan. This is not a cave, this is a blink. There’s a difference. Blinking means admitting that he had nothing to offer himself so he might as well start with this thing. Not bad since we are at 14 days and counting. Strong. Leader.
I read the executive summary of the GOS plan and I have to admit that I have about 23% understanding of it. It is a substantive policy submission; however, most of it is comprehensible by DC policy wonks and ONLY DC policy wonks.
But it’s a start. The negotiations have begun. The Senate must first actually write up a bill, have it scored by CBO, pass it and send it over to the House for probable, hopefully, amending. Then it goes back to the Senate for acceptance or rejection of the House amendments. A likely committee of conference is appointed and final negotiations occur.
In the mean time, the fundraising industry of DC will be in hyper drive. Every piece of the bill will be used by the affected entities to apocalyptically pronounce the end of the Earth’s rotation which will only be alleviated by a $50 donation which will also get you their latest policy report.
By August 2nd, several things will have occurred. The debt limit will be increased. Some taxes will be raised and some will be lowered. Crisis will be averted. Calmer heads will prevail.
But still.
This should never have gotten to the point at which we are actually thinking that the full faith and credit of America is suspect to the whims of the political machinations of those who seek to govern with the singular philosophy of “See, I Told You So.”
Many hysterical op-ed writers will get the vapors over how X or Y principle has been unalterably compromised. Nothing will be compromised away.
It will be negotiated.
Think about it. How many times to you go to buy something thinking “I am going to compromise to get what I want.”? You don’t. You think, rightfully, that you want to win the negotiations.
Winning, duh.
Who is going to win this show down? The side that first declares victory.
Republicans are still in the minority in DC. They are outnumbered 2 to 1 – President and Senate to House. Political Science is math. They have the advantage.
The GOP have taken this as far as they can. They should amend the bill or start their own that BEGINS the multi year path to balancing a budget that has not been passed in 812 days. If you really think the Democrats are going to cave but so much, you are smoking crack. They have the numbers.
Take what can. Declare victory. We have a lot of work to do in the future. Go Home. Win the Senate and the Presidency. If they want to play chicken with an economy that is creeping back into recession by even thinking about playing roulette with the full faith and credit of the United States, then they will forfeit any chance of future successes.
We didn’t get into this mess overnight and it won’t be solved in the next fortnight.
Let’s keep the momentum toward fiscal sanity going. Declare victory. Show the American people you can make progress. Repeat.
Right now, as in the Holy Grail, Camelot is a silly place.
It’s only a model.
Cold Fusion Holy Grail prediction – for the same reason that the NFL season will start soon – there is too much money and power for a deal NOT to be done. The difference with the NFL and DC? In the NFL, it’s either the owners or the players money. In DC? It’s OPM – so this thing will go down to the wire.
Set your office pools for a July 31st or August 1st for a budget deal to get done. NFL practices will have started several days before.
Other People’s Money.
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