Warner: We all need ‘skin in the game’ to solve debt, budget issues
Mark Warner might be in D.C., but he’s definitely not of D.C.
“No matter how many challenges you’ve got in the Valley or on City Council or others, they are not as wacky as the people that I work with up in D.C.,” Sen. Warner, D-Va., said during a visit to Waynesboro on March 2.
Talking with leaders from local government and the local business community at the Waynesboro YMCA, Warner talked up his efforts through the Gang of Six – a bipartisan group of six senators – to build coalitions in the Senate and the House of Representatives to work toward solutions to the nation’s fiscal and economic problems. Read more
Robert Hurt: The legislative line-item veto
This past week, the House completed passage of four pieces of legislation that would eliminate Washington, DC accounting gimmicks, increase transparency, and put an end to business as usual when it comes to out of control spending in Washington.
One of these measures was H.R. 3521, sponsored by Representative Paul Ryan, which would grant the president the authority to veto wasteful spending provisions in appropriations bills and send such provisions back to Congress for an up or down vote to reduce the deficit. Read more
Robert Hurt: Fixing a broken budget system
At a time when we in the House have been waiting on the Senate to take action and join our focused agenda of enacting measures that would reduce our staggering $15 trillion debt, the Senate acted – but they acted in a way that was dismissive of their responsibility to the American people and in direct conflict with the necessary goal of passing a budget in order to restore our country to fiscal sustainability.
Though Congress is legally required to pass a budget each fiscal year, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that the Senate would not allow a vote on a fiscal year 2013 budget resolution – marking the third straight year that the Senate has abdicated its legislative duties and not passed a budget. 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-Eminem Edition
So the big debtbacle is finally over.
You wish. This is just the start. This is the new normal. Everything from here on out will be negotiated until the final hours. That is until we set the debt and fiscal trajectory on a better path and for a period of time up to the final passage of the Balanced Budget Amendment. Then the negotiations will spill over the deadlines and the new outrage will not be whether or not there is a surplus but how large is it.
A generation from now.
It will take a generation of time to change to new normal. This is not quite the “fundamental transformation” the president had predicted. But it is coming.
Greater restraint on government power is coming. It’s long overdue and it will take time so that the societal transition is not nearly as disruptive as it could be. A dramatic transition out of massive entitlements will not happen. Think of a long glide path – like a plane landing after flying at 38,000 feet. It. Takes. Time.
But…but….
Look. There is no more money. The bill is due. The party is over and the hangover is upon us. From here on out the path to recovery and renewal is reform.
If you think for a second that the next generation of political leaders is not willing to make the hard and sometime dangerous decisions that were nearly made this week, then I dare say you should look to retire to Costa Rica.
Washington DC has been changed, but not by the president who ran a brilliant and inspiring campaign in 2008. No, it was changed by the winners of the election 2010.
The health care legislative battle was won by Obama in Old Washington, the debt ceiling battle was won by those who had nothing to lose – in New Washington. Out manned in a political structure 2 to 1, the minority won. Big. Big Big.
The narrative will try to be turned on them as to how irresponsible they were and how they should not play chicken with the economy, the full faith and credit of the United States and their political careers. Maybe it will stick…probably not.
They got sick and tired of being sick and tired and said “not to my kids and grandkids you don’t.”
The songs of the 60s and 70s were reflective of the realities of the youths who wrote them.
Fast forward to today’s music. Much of it is useless noise but some artists capture the times. Few do it as well as Eminem.
Eminem (a.k.a Marshall Mathers) asks during the introduction of his hit “Lose Yourself”
Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity
To Seize Everything you ever wanted, in one moment
Would you capture it, or just let it slip
Raw and powerful lyrics from a new generation. Not the stuff of 1968 to be sure.
The uninformed will say “Yeah, but Eminem is just a kid from Detroit.”
That kid turns 40 in October. Like too much of his generation, Mathers learned life the hard way with a father gone before he was two and his beloved uncle committing suicide via a shotgun to the head before Eminem was 20.
The children of Vietnam and Watergate are going to have their turn at the plate and they don’t plan on drawing a walk or bunting to get on base, they are going to swing for the fences or die trying.
Yeah, but home runs are so hard to hit….yes, a 95 mph four seam rising fastball is impossible to hit 400 feet.
Taking a political piece of maple to the federal budget for the sake of their children’s future is like hitting watermelon off of a tee.
Those recently awakened to the cold reality of the kids who grew up watching Dirty Harry say “Go Ahead, Make My Day”, are going to be astonished at the clarity and purpose of the next generation.
They really don’t care – about themselves. They care deeply about their kids and they are going to make damn sure that they have a future in this world. Just watch when the issue of K-12 education spending comes up. If it comes down to the Pentagon or K-12 funding, bet on the schools – every time.
Very few rappers write lyrics worth a plug nickel. Eminem, however, does with stunning clarity and jarring anger. The now born again Christian is “down with the Bible” and writing songs with Old Testament verses. That would be the “eye for an eye” portion of the most popular book in human history.
The new normal is under way. Everything is on the table.
Reform of our governing policies will be the new grail. Every politician worth their salt will be looking at new and improved ways of delivering essential government services to those who truly need help.
This is not easy sledding by any stretch of the imagination but thankfully the states have been leading in this effort for decades. They’ve had to because they have had deadlines for balanced budgets. They have no escape hatches. They have to deal with the cold, hard reality of the battle between revenues and costs.
The next generation knows all too well cold and hard realities. Making those decisions will not take very long for them. It won’t require polling or focus groups.
They are fine with the idea to “Lose Yourself.”
How serious were the winners of the Great Compromise of the Summer 2011?
Many of them didn’t even vote for it!
The next battle is over the federal budget that is due to be passed by the beginning of the fiscal year – October 1st. Buckle up and start the office pools again.
Did I mention that Eminem is a Born Again Christian?
“For The Times They Are A Changin….”
Irony noted.
Column by Chris Saxman
Robert Hurt: Fighting to change the spending culture in Washington
Over the past several weeks Washington has been seized with the issue regarding the President’s request to raise the nation’s debt ceiling.
The dynamics of the potential economic ramifications, my commitment to cutting government spending, and the political realities of a divided government in Washington underlined this debate.
After listening to and communicating with many of my constituents, I decided that it was in the best interest of the people I represent to support the final agreement, the Budget Control Act, which passed the House and Senate with bipartisan support and was signed into law by the President this past week.
Last November, 5th District Virginians sent a clear message that we must put an end to the reckless government spending in Washington that has led to a crippling $14 trillion debt and $1.5 trillion deficit. HYPERLINK “http://email.address-verify.com/q/BlVBBR1rbb9wAlsl918HqNtihz9tdJiE41HzdxsA-IUMrGiGLoZ_-6QIZ” hurt.house.gov or call my Washington office: (202) 225-4711, Charlottesville office: (434) 973-9631, Danville office: (434) 791-2596, or Farmville office: (434) 395-0120.
Since the start of the new 112th Congress, the House has delivered on this message by consistently fighting to change the spending culture in Washington.
As I have said from the beginning, I would only consider the President’s request for an increase in the debt ceiling if a plan was put in place that adhered to the principles of Cut, Cap, and Balance. And while this agreement does not go far enough, I believe it lives up to those principles and moves the ball forward.
This plan is not the final answer to our debt crisis, but it implements historic spending reforms that actually shrink the size and scope of the federal government and does so in spite of a Senate and White House that have remained committed to continuing the current spending status quo.
Instead of providing the President with a blank check to raise the debt limit and instead of allowing massive tax increases on our job creators, the House changed the terms of the debate.
Now, Washington is cutting spending by a larger amount than the increase in the debt limit. Now, enforceable spending caps will be put in place and for the first time in fifteen years, the House and Senate are guaranteed to vote on a balanced budget amendment. And now, we will address Washington’s spending problem without imposing job-destroying tax hikes on our families and small businesses.
This plan is not perfect, but is a step in the right direction to move an inflexible Washington towards accepting true spending reforms and forcing the government to live within its means so that we can get our fiscal house in order to help grow the economy and create jobs for all 5th District Virginians.
If you need any additional information on these or any other issues, please visit my website at
Robert Hurt is a United States congressman.
Robert Hurt: Federal government overreach
Posted by afp on March 5, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Though the stories of over-regulation that I hear come from Central and Southside Virginians in the Fifth District, Americans across this country – from Virginia to California – together suffer the same negative effects of high unemployment and an unsustainable national debt that are the results of an overreaching federal government. Read more
Filed under Blogs · Tagged with budget deficit, federal budget, federal government, national debt, robert hurt