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With fights over budget policy riders threatening to shut down the government, it’s interesting to take a look at what types of policy changes the House GOP is trying to extract through the budget process. Luckily, OMB Watch, a decidedly competent left-of-center regulatory watchdog that happens to have its offices just a few doors down from mine, has put together a very good list of the budget riders that Republicans have attached to their spending plan.
A few observations:
1. The media-popular idea idea that the budget fight is driven by the GOP’s cultural-conservative wing seems overblown. There are three provisions (out of nearly 100) that relate to abortion: one applies only the District of Columbia, one only to international organizations, and one only to Planned Parenthood. (And, given a federal court ruling that a more-or-less identical law about ACORN was unconstitutional, the last won’t stand up in court.) I’m pro-life myself and honestly I can’t see much of a reason to get excited about any of these provisions. There’s nothing in the proposal, best as I can tell, that impacts gays, marriage, gambling, or booze.
2. The proposed healthcare policy riders are so broad that if implemented, they would amount to an outright repeal of the healthcare bill. They offer so little wiggle-room that President Obama can’t, as a political mater, agree to even a single one of them as written.
3. For all the wish-list-making involved in the health care fight, the much longer list of environment-related riders looks like it was written almost entirely by specific industry lobbyists who have good relationships with certain members of Congress. Although there are some very broad efforts that would end virtually every climate-change or carbon-regulation program in the government, most of the environmental efforts are very narrow and, one assumes, serve a very few interests.
Among other things, there are specific provisions that suspend a very particular rule related to cement making, end an obscure wetlands conservation program, change the treatment of coal ash as a pollutant, and end funding for a particular dam removal study in California. These are the stuff of typical budget riders and whether they are good or bad policy, it’s hard to see most of the bill’s non-climate change environmental provisions as anything other than the result of very narrow interest-group politics.
4. A few riders don’t appear to have been written by people who didn’t know what they were doing. For example, there’s a ban on aid to Saudi Arabia even though the U.S. doesn’t provide any (the U.S. provides some training assistance to the Saudis to help them fight terrorists but doesn’t actually send any aid checks), two separate provisions ending the “Climate Change Czar,” a restriction on Congress spending money on committee room renovations (which, since Congress itself has to appropriate the money and can’t bar itself from doing so in the future, is utterly meaningless), and a ban on funding for the White House “Fairness Doctrine Czar” which, best as I can tell, is a position that doesn’t exist and never has existed. (There’s a longstanding, somewhat silly sounding FCC position that the bill’s authors may be aiming for there.)
interesting political flags the GOP is hoisting atop their new Alamo
“Prohibits the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from collecting information on multiple sales of rifles or shotguns to the same person.”
Having done a quick surf of these riders yesterday they are veritable tour de force of far right wing ideology on everything from women’s health to pollution. They are also compelling evidence of the extent to which the GOP is in the pocket of the religious right and business interests, particularly the energy industry. Basically they are egregious. Since Lehrer is pro life I don’t suppose he would find the efforts to restrict access to abortion as anything to get particularly excited about, but I’m sure most women would. Obviously if the shutdown occurs the Democrats are going make great play with this list which is why it’s spreading over the internet like Kouzoo weed. In fact I linked the list to an email I sent to a couple of staunch Republican buddies of mine as an example of the latest craziness.
“Kouzoo weed”
I believe it’s “kudzu weed” sir. Thank you MTG.
So it is. Thanks for the correction.
Eli is falling into the mainstream media “Blame the Republicans” trap.
Sorry, but with Fox News around this time, unlike 1995, it ain’t gonna work.
The nation is broke, we have a leftist whack job in the White House taking vacays, and the Dims don’t seem to care.
NOVEMBER 2012
You tool, to the extent that your pathetic little conspiracy victimization theory holds any water, its already worked; 40% of the country already blames the GOP solely responsible. Another 17% blame both parties, and another 15% blame the Tea Party (which from a voting standpoint is identical to the GOP). This is assisted by Tea Party signs begging for a shutdown.
Clueless wide-stance ClosetDweller traitor. The only people who pay any attention to Faux are those whove already drunk the kooliaid and wear the tin hats – like you.
NOVEMBER 2012 indeed!
Sorry meddy, but the latest Fox News poll indicated that 70% of their viewers thought the shutdown is necessary.
Why the namecalling?
Fox viewers don’t come close to representing the cross section of Americans. I am surprised it is that low.
“the latest Fox News poll indicated that 70% of their viewers thought the shutdown is necessary.”
Only 70%? On Fox? Wow, I would never have expected the shutdown to be so unpopular even large swaths of the faithful disagree.
Oddly enough this is not that far off that NBC poll where about 30% of Republicans were for avoiding a shutdown. However, the figures for independants were around 65% and Dems around 85%. This does not sound like a majority in favor of a shutdown but then Republican math is rather odd.
Faux news is not an honest broker – more kool-aid for the Right Wing tin-hat brigade. And name-calling? Given your record of tossing out vituperation? You always make me laugh when you play the pathetic wounded-bird victim.
I thought Republicans had spine. Man up, you wide-stance girly-man.
Shutting down the government when we have three ongoing military conflicts is tantamount to sodomizing the soldiers that fight them. No wonder you Tea-Baggers are in favor – IMO, its tantamount to treason, and a betrayal of our troops and their families. But hey, they’re mostly minorities, so they get what they get, right?
“Republicans whine and Republicans bitch. The rich are too poor, and the poor are too rich.”
Smarg- Honestly,
You have not been looking at polls for Independents? This is a waste of money and time (stress) over ideology. Try explaining that to the folks that may not get a paycheck.
Why are these riders in there in the first place?
When do they ever have an up and down vote? This is part of the problem.
Here’s an article that examines what might trigger a debt crisis in the United States and when that could occur:
http://viableopposition.blogspot.com/2011/04/trigger-point-for-united-states-debt.html
Let’s hope that Congress takes swift and severe action.
We could also be hit by an asteroid.
Remember when people were mad at the stimulus signs? I wonder who will be hiding when they total the millions lost from closures (picket signs)?
Considering that major discussions on the budget are coming up- I think he is going to compromise. Well, let’s hope for the best.
(Gallup poll 58% want compromise) Over 50% of Republicans don’t want a compromise according to this poll? Doesn’t this seal the deal on the shutdown being about ideology?
Steve,
That article is so lame. Nobody is going to stop lending the biggest economy in the world money, especially the Chinese and the Saudis. All of their income comes from the U.S. There is no interest for them to sink their golden goose. We could just as easily fuck all their imports into the U.S. if they threatened to push the this country into an economic crisis, which is far from certain they could even do.
All countries in the world currently have high total debt to GDP ratios. The U.S. is not particularly different. This is because of the downturn in the global economy. We have been through this many times before. Over time as the global economy comes back the ratios will largely correct themselves.
Zephae:
““Kouzoo weed”
I believe it’s “kudzu weed” sir. Thank you MTG.”
Did we just get a Magic the Gathering reference in this forum? lol.
On a serious note however, the riders are a huge problem to budget negotiations and shows where the 2 sides are unable to meet. Obama won’t let the health care or abortion riders pass. The Senate Democrats won’t let the environmental riders pass as well. It looks like we’re heading to a shut down on non-budgetary issues which is a sad thing that could of been prevented if Republicans didn’t try to overplay their hand once again.
The positioning that’s going on clearly indicates this sucker is likely to go down. I take statements from both sides with a large pinch of salt because it’s all positioning at this stage. Clearly if it happens the Dems are going to claim they met the Republicans on money (although I rather doubt it) but the Republicans insisted on riders that would deny abortion and family planning, pollute the air, poison the water, shut down NPR and commit genocide on puppies. The Republicans are going to claim these are unimportant or part of their effort to cut spending. We’ll see who has the better of this argument. Substantively it’s probably weaker than that Gingrich deployed.
“Did we just get a Magic the Gathering reference in this forum? lol.”
Oh yeah, baby. It’s been a very long time since I’ve bought new cards, but I still keep my old decks around and play from time to time. Still, I’ve always admired the game for the breadth of its vocabulary and, up until about Tempest or Urza’s Saga, the number of literary references they had in the flavor text.
Rabiner- Considering that Boehner just added to pass military funding (in case of shutdown). Yes, the game is still being played.
If they pass it and a shut down is still possible. Over an ideology issue that is current law? Isn’t this an issue for another day?
[blockquote]Officials said that Democrats had made concessions on both money and policy, and had moved toward the position of House Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio on the overall level of spending, agreeing to $37 billion in cuts, with less of it coming from the Pentagon than Democrats had initially sought.
Democratic officials familiar with the negotiations said that proposed restrictions on money for Planned Parenthood remained the chief sticking point, and that attempts to resolve the disagreement through alternatives like allowing a separate floor vote on the issue had not been successful. Democrats said they were told by the Republicans that the votes of anti-abortion social conservatives would be needed to move any budget measure through the House.[/blockquote]
Lobbyists, huh?
I think at this stage all these quotes by anon officials are to be taken with a large pinch of salt. I see that figures of 38 billion off Obama’s original budget are being talked about but wasn’t the final budget several billion lower? And what’s in the 38 billion is very murky. Obviously the Democrats have in some sense an interest in talking up the number as indeed does Boehner but what’s in there is very vague since both sides seem to be holding the number close. Even 31 billion was going to drive a heck of a hole through the balance of this years discretionary spending so one has to assume there are all sorts of little bites from non discretionary. On the riders I can’t see the Democrats in the senate or the admin folding on these other than maybe the odd innocuous item.
By this afternoon or sooner. The Dems will be asking why Republicans don’t like women? The Republicans will be tossing up the troops not getting paid and insist that it is about the money as if shutting down the government costs zero dollars. This is a sad display. Let me know how it turns out FF. Ridiculous rhetoric!