Sorting Through This Week's Budget Mess In Washington

Louisville Congressman John Yarmouth, a Democratic member of the House Budget Committee, was right when he said the latest edition of Paul Ryan's annual Austerity budget "is pretty much a rhetorical exercise" that isn't going anywhere. It passed Thursday 219-205, every Democrat voting NO, as did a dozen Republicans:

• Paul Broun (R-GA)
• Phil Gingrey (R-GA)
• Jack Kingston (R-GA)
• Rick Crawford (R-AR)
• Chris Gibson (R-NY)
• Ralph Hall (R-TX)
• David Jolly (R-FL)
• Walter Jones (R-NC)
• Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ)
• Tom Massie (R-KY)
• David McKinley (R-WV)
• Austin Scott (R-GA)

There were 4 other budgets proposed, one from the neo-fascist wing of the GOP, which was presented by Georgia teabagger Rob Woodall. That one got a majority of Republican votes, 133 as opposed to 97 Republicans who voted NO and failed 133-291. Hard to believe but it is even a more destructive plan than Ryan's! The official Democratic budget was presented by Chris Van Hollen and that failed 163-261. 31 Democrats voted with the GOP against it, including virtually all the Blue Dogs and New Dems (the Republican wing of the Democratic Party). The Congressional Black Caucus budget was presented by Gwen Moore and that failed 116-300. Again, the Blue Dogs and New Dems voted with the GOP against it, although most Democrats, 116-76, favored it. The best budget of all, the Congressional Progressive Caucus budget was presented by Raul Grijalva and it failed 89-327, almost all the most corrupt corporate Dems happily skipping across the aisle to vote with the Republicans. 103 of the most corrupted Democrats joined Steny Hoyer and his pathetic puppet, Joe Crowley, to vote NO. Oddly, the third of that trio of sleaze, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, voted with the progressives for a change.



As Danny Vinik put it in his epic take-down of the GOP Austerity blueprint yesterday, The Ryan Budget Doesn't Just Sin Against The Poor, It Sins Against Math Too, "the real test of Republican priorities isn’t what they say. It’s what they propose to do with the federal budget… House Republicans made their priorities abundantly clear when they passed the Ryan Budget without any Democratic support. The plan balances the budget in 10 years through dramatic spending cuts, particularly on programs and services for low-income Americans… But focusing on the Ryan budget’s moral failings obscures its equally apparent logical flaws. For all the axe-wielding, it does little to tackle the drivers of our long-term debt-- the rationale behind the steep cuts to begin with. " He has 4 main critiques:

• The budget calls for severe spending cuts, in a way that’s likely to undermine the recovery

• The mandatory cuts come disproportionately from programs affecting the poor

• The discretionary cuts would also come disproportionately from programs affecting the poor

• The budget ignores the long-term drivers of our debt

Denunciations of the Ryan budget have been coming fast and furious. For example, Mike Obermueller, candidate for Congress in MN-02, the seat being held by right-wing extremist John Kline, made it clear that he would have voted no and that in November, voters should keep in mind that Kline voted for it. "John Kline," he said, "is so out of touch with reality that he released a statement yesterday calling the Ryan budget a 'responsible plan'-- a budget that gives a $200,000 tax cut to millionaires and pays for it by increasing taxes on middle class families. A responsible plan cuts wasteful spending while protecting investments that create jobs like education, job training, and high tech research-- all things that this Republican budget guts in order to give massive tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans. Congressman Kline, like many in Washington, is more concerned with his wealthy donors and party leadership than he is with representing hard working Minnesotans and their best interests. Congressman Kline continues to say this budget will 'foster opportunities for all Americans'-- but it really only helps some Americans, the wealthiest. It certainly doesn’t help seniors that would see their Medicare benefits slashed. For middle class families who will lose $2,000 to tax hikes just to pay for tax cuts for millionaires, this budget does the opposite of foster opportunity. In addition, this budget makes the job market an uphill battle by costing the country 3 million jobs."

On Monday, Patrick Hope, the progressive Democrat running for the open VA-08 seat Jim Moran is giving up, will hold a press conference outside of the IRS Building in Washington as he delivers his petition in support of a Millionaire’s Tax requiring millionaires and giant corporations to pay their fair share in taxes. Hope is one of the Democratic congressional candidates supporting the Congressional Progressive Caucus budget which would raise tax rates on those making over $250,000 per year and create new brackets for those making over $1,000,000 a year.

Mike Honda, who has been the single biggest force in writing the Progressive Budget over the years, took to the pages of the San Jose Mercury News to explain to his constituents exactly what's wrong with what Ryan and all but a dozen Republicans are pushing.

Any budget, whether it's for a family, a company, or a government, reflects the values of its creators. Do you save for college or buy a new car? Do you offer a dividend or put more money into R&D? Do you invest in programs to help support the middle class or do you reward the powerful and influential with extra tax advantages?

The House Republican budget, introduced by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., shows once again that their party values the whims of the wealthy over the needs of the middle class and poor.

Ryan's budget proposes severe domestic spending cuts for programs that aid the most vulnerable Americans, and inexplicably offers tax breaks to the wealthiest among us. It raises taxes on middle class families with children by an average of over $2,000 a year. It cuts payments for SNAP (food stamps) and Medicare, and raises drug costs and insurance premiums-- all to fund an average tax cut of $200,000 for millionaires and tax subsidies for highly-profitable oil companies.

Ryan's budget is especially cruel to seniors. Traditional Medicare premiums would rise an average of 50 percent. The budget brings back the Medicare "doughnut hole," which means prescription drug costs would increase almost $1,200 a year. Medicaid would be slashed by $732 billion.

This year's Progressive Caucus budget, which I have authored in past years, would protect the Medicare guarantee, preserves Medicaid, and expands coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) so that all Americans can have access to quality, affordable health care.

The Ryan budget also has no plan for the retirement security of our seniors. The Strengthen Social Security Act, which I introduced with Reps. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., and Rush Holt, D-N.J., would ensure that everyone pays into Social Security fairly. Also, my Consumer Price Index for the elderly legislation, the CPI-E Act, would allow us to adopt a realistic cost of living calculator so that seniors can retire with dignity.

Perhaps worst of all, the Republican budget has no plan for America's future. It guts funding for education, which we need to keep our leadership in the innovation economy. It would eliminate up to 29,000 teaching and teacher's aide jobs. It would remove 170,000 children from Head Start. It would cut support for higher education, including Pell Grants and federal student loans, by $205 billion over 10 years.

At the same time, Ryan's budget eliminates federal support for infrastructure improvements that not only would improve the day-to-day lives of millions of Americans, but also support our small and large businesses. It cuts transportation budgets by over $52 billion in 2015 alone.

If Ryan were truly interested in the economic health of our country, his budget would include comprehensive immigration reform. Economists say such reform would reduce our deficit by almost $900 billion, along with stimulating our economy and creating jobs. For America to succeed in the face of global economic pressures and competition, we need every American to be productive. To do this, they must be allowed to come out of the shadows. We need to bring fairness and foresight to our vision for America so that tomorrow's opportunities are greater than today's.

The Ryan budget combines shortsightedness with economic deception and financial cruelty. It hurts the poor to help the rich. It ignores our future to protect the well-off today. The Republican budget proposes Robin Hood in reverse. It is something none of us can afford.

This is as good a time as any to remind readers that Honda is in a tough fight with conservatives for reelection. They know they can't elect a Republican in his blue district so they found an ambitious and unprincipled patsy, Ro Khanna, who they've been pumping millions of dollars into. Khanna claims to be a Democrat but his economic agenda is the agenda of the plutocrats and on issue after issue he would cut protections and benefits for the middle class on behalf of the wealthy. You can contribute to Honda's campaign here.