Let’s face it. Making a budget is a drag…We all have to do it. Even the Federal Government. This year the budget has been news since it wasn’t ready when the 2011 session of Congress took office. The GOP and Tea Party wanted to cut, cut, cut. The Dems wanted to keep the cuts slim because they wanted ensure that economic growth continues. The government has been issuing continuing resolutions and stopgap spending measures to avert a government shutdown. The last was issued in the final hours before the government would shut down. Days after the averted shut down both Dems and the GOP praised themselves for coming together and compromising to make a budget deal. The question I had was…What was the compromise? Finding exactly what was up for discussion was uncertain. Programs ultimately were threatened which arguably would translate into job loss. However, what was saved at the eleventh hour of the budget discussions and what was still cut?
Bob Schieffer of CBS’s Face the Nation described the politics of the budget cuts as miniscule in comparison to the vastness of the US budget. He states, “If you were buying a house for $200,000 it would be like arguing over $400. That’s what the argument over the government budget is.” Even though the fight is over a small amount, it sure did create a stir.
What is in the Budget?
The article below has good information about what is in and what is out in the budget. It is rather long so I will provide snippets of information from the article.
· Education, Labor, and Health and Human Services Departments will have combined cuts of $19.8 Billion.
· Environmental Protection Agency will lose $1.6 Billion
· Fish and Wildlife Service $141 Million in cuts
· National Park Servicelost $127 Million.
· Clean drinking water state revolving funds will lose $997 Million.
· Head Start, AmeriCorps, and implementation of new health-care and food safety laws will stay.
· Pell Grants will be cut by $500 Million.
· Children’s Health Insurance Program will lose roughly $3.5 Billion.
· Money for highways and high-speed rail projects in rural areas will face cuts.
· Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan and the Free Choice Voucher programs (COOPS program) from Obama’s health-care law will be eliminated, which eliminates $2.2 Billion from health care spending.
· The Washington DC Metro system will not be cut and receive full funding.
· Attached to the bill is a provision that bans federal and local funding for abortion.
Again, these are simply the highlights. For a full discussion of the cuts click here: http://republicans.appropriations.house.gov/_files/41211SummaryFinalFY2011CR.pdf
What do people think?
The budget has spent lots of time being discussed and cussed since Congress started their session in January. At http://thevotereffect.com there is a discussion happening right now that you could take part in. http://www.thevotereffect.com/public_issues/?page=issues_search. It has been particularly interesting to follow these debates since the beginning of the budget discussions and how the users of http://thevotereffect.com responded to them. For instance the first budget discussion happened when the Tea Party suggested $100 Billion in cuts and the GOP suggested $74 Billion in cuts. The users at http://thevotereffect.com voted 37.5% against the Tea Party’s suggestion, while 62.7% voted in favor. http://www.thevotereffect.com/public_issues/?page=issue_profile&issue_id=92. Read the full discussion here. Another budget discussion is http://www.thevotereffect.com/public_issues/?page=issue_profile&issue_id=163 which asks if the budget should’ve be cut by the $61 Billion suggested by the GOP or the $30 Million suggested by the Dems. What it boiled down to was 40.7% opposing the $61 Billion in cuts and 53.3% in favor of the cuts. Also being discussed is the aspect of Defense spending. http://www.thevotereffect.com/public_issues/?page=issue_profile&issue_id=130. It has been extremely interesting to watch this debate unfold and to follow what fellow Americans are thinking at http://thevotereffect.com . Join today. It’s free and fun!
Go to Washington every, single, day. Join http://thevotereffect.com today!http://thevotereffect.com/
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