As the Big "R" Republicans Continue Not "To Get It"...

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny


There is just something I don't understand about the big "R" republicans. Getting our fiscal house in order, and restoring constitutional governance should be of the highest order. Yet the party that ought to be concerned with how we spend the people's money seems more concerned with telling us all how we should live our lives and creating the invisible boogeymen the party wants us all should fear.

The Hill - The House voted Thursday to override steep cuts to the Pentagon’s budget mandated by last summer's debt deal and replace them with spending reductions to food stamps and other mandatory social programs.

While doomed in the Senate and opposed by the White House, the legislation, which would reduce the deficit by $243 billion, is a Republican marker for post-election budget talks with the White House.

Members approved the Sequester Replacement Reconciliation Act in a party-line 218-199 vote. As expected, the bill was supported by nearly all Republicans — only 16 opposed it, and no Democrats supported it.

Republicans voting against the bill were Reps. Justin Amash (Mich.), Roscoe Bartlett (Md.), Charlie Bass (N.H.), John Duncan (Tenn.), Mike Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Chris Gibson (N.Y.), Louie Gohmert (Texas), Jaime Herrera Beutler (Wash.), Tim Johnson (Ill.), Walter Jones (N.C.), Raul Labrador (Idaho), Steve LaTourette (Ohio), Frank LoBiondo (N.J.), Todd Platts (Pa.), Ed Whitfield (Ky.) and Frank Wolf (Va.). GOP Rep. James Sensenbrenner (Wis.) voted present.

Republicans cast the bill as a first step back toward controlling federal spending, after years of allowing spending and deficits to balloon.

“We believe the purpose of the sequester was to replace the fact that Congress isn't governing,” House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said during the opening debate on the bill. “Well, let's have Congress govern. That's why we're doing this.”

Both parties are looking to avoid $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts to Pentagon and domestic discretionary spending that are mandated to begin in 2013 because of the failure of the deficit supercommittee to agree to a deficit-reduction plan. The entire process was set up by the 2011 deal between Congress and the White House to raise the debt ceiling.

The House bill would leave pending mandatory cuts in place, including cuts to Medicare. It would turn off $72 billion in cuts to both the Pentagon and non-defense spending mandated by sequestration, but add $315 billion in new cuts, none of which are imposed on the Pentagon.

Under the House-approved legislation, food stamp eligibility is tightened, the Prevention and Public Health Trust Fund under the 2010 healthcare law is ended, the Federal Medicaid match to states is reduced, new stricter eligibility standards for Medicaid are imposed, and the Social Services Block Grant, which funds Meals on Wheels, is ended.

More savings come from cutting all funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, cutting federal worker pay and through medical tort reform.

The cuts would reduce the overall discretionary spending cap for 2013 by $19 billion below the level set in the debt deal.

But the GOP bill is highly controversial because it completely exempts defense cuts and focuses cuts only on social programs, a move Democrats blasted as the bill was debated. {Read More}


Certainly we must reform the system and get entitlements under control as entitlement spending is a huge budget item. All federal spending must be scrutinized as to 1) necessity, 2) effectiveness, 3) possible duplicity 4)affordability and sustainability. These are but a few concerns fiscal conservatives should be focusing on.

The same scrutiny must apply to the defense budget as well. We can no longer afford to be the world's police force, nor should we. It is time the big "R" statist republicans get off their high horses and start to recognize reality and think rationally. Or they will cease to have any relevancy at all.

Via: Memeorandum

Comments

  1. I agree that they don't get it, I think this is just a tactic for later negotiations. Why give up the farm up front if the Democrats are going to take it away anyway. This allows them to appear willing to negotiate and carve up sacred cows, while hopefully getting the Democrats to give up something as well. What they fail to realize that this hasn't worked so far, hence the budget ceiling impasse, the super committee impasse, and every other impasse. Democrats don't negotiate at all, so We the People end up with nothing. Someone needs to grow a pair and draw a line in the sand. They need to say enough is enough. Take their case to the people, by showing America that they have a better plan where the sacred cows are the first to go and they are serious about fixing the issue.

    We all know that it is going to take sacrifice by all to cut spending to the point of sanity, so lots and lots of pork and sacred cows are going to be headed to the slaughter house. Everyone knows this, but until there is shared slaughter on both sides nothing is ever going to happen. The military could do with a serious haircut, do we really need families making $80K a year on food stamps (tough sell), and do we really need every home in America with four cell phones, large HD flat screen, and two gaming systems? There is lots of room to cut, but no one is going to want their piece of the pie cut unless everyone's is cut.

    So since Congress incapable of getting the job done, then let the ax fall equally and cut 10% across the board every two years until the budget is balanced and we can pay down the national debt. This allows time for agencies to adjust before the next round of cuts and make it like BRAC where Congress doesn't really get too much say in the matter because that seems to work best these days.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Things will change - More Americans than see that Leviathan is laying waste to this nation and are a horrified as you and I. I have a lot of hope that we can. Hange things

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry for the typos - I'm on the iPhone blogger app :)

      Delete

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