Yesterday there was much weeping and gnashing of teeth amongst the frustrati about how President Obama and the Democrats caved in negotiating a deal on the 2011 budget to avoid a government shut-down. I'll not provide a link, but the recommended list at Daily Kos was yet another testament to the proposition of preemptive ranting before the details are known.
Then last night WH Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer provided some specifics. Here's a summary:
Crop Insurance Good Performance Rebate - $35 billion
A job training program that was narrowly targeted at certain student loan processors - $30 billion
Defense Department - $18 billion
Labor, Education, HHS - $13 billion
State and Foreign Operations - $8 billion
Transportation earmarks - $3 billion
I'd like to see more specifics about the cuts to Labor, Education & HHS. But overall, this doesn't look too bad. The biggest looser is farm subsidies.
I wonder if there will be a diary on the recommended list today at Daily Kos outlining these specific cuts and exploring the real impact. Or is it enough to simply assume the Democrats caved when they agreed to any cuts and spread a message about what wimps they are? Since when is political analysis on the left simply a matter of emotional reaction devoid of actual facts?
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ReplyDeleteI am wondering why cuts MUST be associated with the debt ceiling as the repugs want and why they cannot be negotiated during the 2012 budget? I am confused. Since the 2011 budget never passed why are these 38B a big deal?
Smilinglady
Here's a good article by Steve Benen about raising the debt limit.
ReplyDeleteI feel like Rachel Maddow these days when she used to say that someone needed to "talk her down." This one worries me...a lot.
We absolutely can't afford to destroy the full faith and credit of the US government by failing to raise the debt limit. The consequences would be enormous - not the least of which is a probably dip back into recession.
The Republicans know this. How far are they willing to go in making unreasonable demands? And will they blink if they're not met?
Its a terrifying game of chicken I suspect they'll play. And if so, they need to be punished for it in the media and in 2012. Will that happen? We'll see...
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