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Friday, September 28, 2007

Round-Up: Senate Votes on CR, SCHIP, Debt Limit

Continuing Resolution Adopted:

By 94-1, the Senate voted late yesterday to keep the government operating through Nov. 16, adopting an FY 2008 continuing resolution (CR) which will fund government programs at fiscal 2007 levels. The CR keeps funds flowing to federal programs whose authorizations lapse Sept. 30, including food stamps, the Federal Aviation Administration and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. As we noted, House passed the CR on Wednesday, 404-14.

Debt Limit Increased:

The Senate voted 53-42 to send President Bush legislation (H.J.Res. 43, $) that would raise the government's debt limit to nearly $10 trillion. The bill would boost the statutory debt limit by $850 billion to $9.815 trillion. The House passed the measure automatically, without a roll call vote, when Congress adopted the fiscal 2008 budget resolution earlier this year. The Senate has no similar rule for automatic action. We're advocating reform on debt-related legislation.

SCHIP Extension Passed, Veto Expected:

As we expected, the Senate approved a bill to expand the Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), on a 67-29 -- i.e., veto-proof -- vote. President Bush has promised to veto the measure, which would expand the program by $35 billion over the next five years, to $60 billion. The expansion would be financed by tobacco tax increases, including a 61-cent increase in the cigarette tax, to $1 per pack. The 265-159 House vote on Tuesday was not sufficient to override a veto. Supporters acknowledge that the measure does not have enough Republican support in the House for an override. But it is backed by a broad range of interest groups, including those representing insurers (America's Health Insurance Plans), doctors (the American Medical Association), seniors (AARP) and consumers (Families USA), and Senate Finance ranking member Charles Grassley (R-IA) who helped write the bill said yesterday, "We're going to try to see if we can convince people in the House to change their vote."



Posted by Dana Chasin, 10:59:10 AM



Thursday, September 27, 2007

Iraq Funding an Emergency? Who Sez?

==> NEWS ITEM (per Congress Daily, $): Yesterday, "the Bush administration upped its emergency war funding request to $192.8 billion and counting."

The administration's standards for emergency supplemental appropriations -- as re-stated annually in the president's federal budget proposal since he took office, "are defined as follows:"

  • necessary expenditure—an essential or vital expenditure, not one that is merely useful or beneficial
  • sudden—quickly coming into being, not building up over time
  • urgent—pressing and compelling, requiring immediate action
  • unforeseen—not predictable or seen beforehand as a coming need
  • not permanent—the need is temporary in nature

==> CONGRESSIONAL RESPONSE (per Roll Call, $):

House and Senate Democratic leaders insisted Wednesday that no final decision has been made on the timing of the next supplemental spending bill to fund the Iraq War... "While there has been discussion, there is no decision on that," Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said of the supplemental's timing. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) said the Members were told that the bill "probably won't come up until January."

Some emergency.



Posted by Dana Chasin, 02:46:33 PM



Wednesday, September 26, 2007

House Presses the Pause/Panic Button on FY 2008

The Senate having passed only four of 12 FY 2008 appropriations bills and those four not even scheduled for conference, and the new fiscal year starting next Monday, Oct. 1, House passage of a continuing resolution to keep the government operating through Nov. 16 at FY 2007 spending levels -- for the most part (see below) -- was a foregone conclusion. It hardly qualifies as news.

The 404-14 House vote on the continuing resolution this afternoon appears to put the budget debate on hold for six weeks. The Senate must vote on the CR this week as well, but that vote has not yet been scheduled.

At first blush, you might think there's no reason to mistake the pause for the panic button. But for those whose benefits erode at the rate of inflation and others who become eligible for assistance that goes unfunded under FY 2007 formulas, no budget news is bad news.

-------

The CR includes some expenditures over and above FY 2007 levels:

  • $5.2 billion in emergency spending for mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles (MRAPs), used to shield soldiers from roadside bombs in Iraq
  • $9.4 billion for the war accounts over the period covered by the measure
  • short-term extensions of funding that falls outside the appropriations process such as:

  • the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)
  • the Federal Aviation Administration
  • a program that aids workers affected by trade policies


Posted by Dana Chasin, 03:20:10 PM



Tuesday, September 25, 2007

FY 2008 CR: Legislative Update

With three legislative days left before the end of the 2007 fiscal year, Congress and the president have little choice but to adopt a Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the government operating at full strength.

Word on the Hill is that a clean CR -- that is, providing continued funding during the life of the CR at FY 2007 levels -- is expected to be passed before the end of the week, with House voting on the CR tomorrow and the Senate doing likewise on Thursday. Currently under discussion is a CR that would expire sometime around Nov. 16.

Click here for a look at the House CR bill.


Posted by Dana Chasin, 03:14:49 PM



Bush, Monday Morning QB, Asks 'Clean' CR
But Unable to 'Obey' His Own Demands

House Appropriations chair Rep. David Obey (D-WI) is trying to forstall a government shutdown, negotiating details of a Continuing Resolution (CR) for Fiscal Year 2008 (which begins next Monday, Oct. 1) with newly-installed OMB director Jim Nussle. "I met with the President's budget director last week and informed him at that time that we intended to pass a clean C.R. I asked him if he would let me know if the administration had any exceptions that they wanted included and they sent us over a dozen changes that they wanted."

"Changes" is another way of saying funding favors -- the kinds of additions that smudge an otherwise "clean" CR. Of course, some of these smudges can be the size of a mud pie. The Senate Appropriations Committee will hold a hearing tomorrow with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte and Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to learn how much more money is needed to account for the cost of troops the president plans to keep in Iraq through the spring as part of his "surge" strategy.

So Obey was quietly trying to accommodate the president and his team last week, so as to avoid a CR veto, which would send the government hurtling toward shutdown upon the start of the 2008 fiscal year.

Then comes President Bush, first thing Monday morning, demanding a clean CR from Congress, as though Obey and Nussle weren't starting with that presumption in their discussion.

Immediately thereafter, Obey issues a press release: "President Bush's statement a few minutes ago telling the Congress to pass a clean continuing resolution is the equivalent of the rooster claiming credit for the sunrise."

Posted by Dana Chasin, 12:43:50 PM



Tuesday, September 18, 2007

The More Partisan Part of the Glass
Billows of Budget Blather, Through the Glass Darkly

Now let's have a look at the part of the fiscal responsibility glass that is half empty

Newly-minted OMB director Jim Nussle dropped his charm offensive as nominee like a rock yesterday, insisting that the president will fight for this $933 billion domestic discretionary topline, come what may from Congress. His rhetoric with reporters raised the specter of a government shutdown, to which he replied, "I don't choose to speculate about a train wreck."

Instead, he sought to bring clarity and harmony to the discussions of when Congress and the White House will be able to come together and complete work on a budget for a fiscal year that begins in a dozen days, referring to how long a continuing resolution (CR) might be needed to tide them over and keep the government open during peace talks.

"If you make the CR go all the way to Thanksgiving ... that provides different pressure points than if you make the CR just go for about a month. So where are the backstops to help produce pressure in order to help produce results, is really often what conversations [involve]."
:

Hard to say if this is empty talk... or if Nussle's glass is really full of it. It seems to be emitting smoke signals.



Posted by Dana Chasin, 05:26:49 PM



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Posted by Craig Jennings, 12:40:45 PM



Thursday, September 13, 2007

Congressional Congestion, Calendar Constraints, and a Continuing Resolution

Take nine unfinished Senate appropriations bills, throw in twelve unscheduled conference negotiations, add a handful of presidential veto threats thus far and counting, and count at most a dozen legislative days until the end of the 2007 fiscal year. You do the math -- it equals at least one continuing resolution (CR).

Most discussions center around a CR that would give Congress until Nov. 9 or 16 to complete work on the FY 2008 budget. Without a stopgap agreement by Oct. 1, government agencies could not operate at full strength after the start of the new fiscal year.

Congress had originally hoped to adjourn at the end of October. But its congested agenda -- including another Iraq war supplemental funding bill, an AMT package, and authorizing measures such the FAA, the farm, and SCHIP bills, not to mention the budget, of course -- makes it likely that Congress will be at work beyond Thanksgiving and possibly until close to the bitter end, shortly before Christmas.

Just like the rest of us.



Posted by Dana Chasin, 07:05:43 PM



Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Nussle Approved to Head OMB, All Brace for Budget Battles

Yesterday, the Senate voted 69-24 to confirm former Rep. Jim Nussle (R-IA) as director of OMB. Every GOP Senator voted in favor of Nussle; 23 Democrats did likewise while 23 opposed him.

The vote sets up a looming battle between Congress and the Bush administration over how much to spend on the 12 FY 2008 appropriations bills. Congress' budget resolution calls for $22 billion more in overall discretionary spending than the $933 billion the president has requested, drawing veto threats from Bush. Additional struggles are expected over extending farm subsidies, SCHIP, and renewing more than 40 expiring tax cuts.

The Center on Budget characterized the looming budget fight as follows:

... the Administration is insisting on cuts and is threatening to veto appropriations bills unless those cuts are made. Claims that Congress's rejection of those cuts represents "spending lust" are unfounded. The question is not whether there should be large increases in domestic appropriations — since large increases are not on the table — but whether domestic programs should be cut (as the President demands) or increased modestly (as the Congressional majority favors)... All of this indicates that in the emerging battle over the fiscal year 2008 appropriations bills, the Administration and its supporters are misrepresenting a disagreement over budget priorities as a disagreement over fiscal responsibility.

Among the more impassioned statements from Senators such as Budget Committee chair Kent Conrad (D-ND), Appropriations chair Robert Byrd (D-WV), and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) seeking to signal their disapproval of the Bush fiscal policy and performance was this one from freshman Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT): "We need a budget director who will make this president understand what the ordinary American family is going through. Unfortunately, there's nothing in former Congressman Nussle's background to suggest that he is that person."

As our name suggests, we will be watching carefully to see if Mr. Nussle is more interested in compromising with Congress and completing work on the FY 2008 budget, or in confrontation, conflict, continuing resolutions, and threatening to close down the federal government.



Posted by Dana Chasin, 10:41:22 AM



Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Bush Has No Conception of Magnitude of Budget

President Bush, August 2, 2007:

Unfortunately, Democratic leaders in Congress want to spend far more. Their budget calls for nearly $22 billion more in discretionary spending next year alone. These leaders have tried to downplay that figure. Yesterday one called this increase -- and I quote -- "a very small difference" from what I proposed. Only in Washington can $22 billion be called a very small difference.

Far be it from me to suggest that $22 billion isn't a lot of money. I will, however, agree that a difference of $22 billion can be "a very small difference." Allow me to illustrate:

$22 Billion in Context - As Percentage of Various Spending Items
Spending ItemAmount in Billions of DollarsPercentage of Item
Anticipated FY2008 War Supplemental20011.0
President's Defense Budget Request4634.8
President's Discretionary Budget Request9332.4
Congressional Discretionary Budget Resolution9552.3
President's Budget Request2,9000.8




Posted by Craig Jennings, 03:40:07 PM



Sen. Sanders on OMB Director Nominee

In the Huffington Post, Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) objects to OMB Director nominee Jim Nussle.

The Senate votes Tuesday on the nomination of former Iowa Congressman James Nussle to be the White House budget director. Personally, I like Jim Nussle. We came to Washington together and I worked with him for 16 years in the House of Representatives. He's smart. He is passionate. My strong opposition to Jim Nussle becoming Director of the Office of Management and Budget has much less to do with Mr. Nussle and much more to do with the current failed trickle-down economic policies of the Bush administration. The problem is that the president and his advisors have become increasingly isolated and out of touch with the economic realities facing ordinary Americans. While the middle class continues to shrink, poverty is increasing, the gap between the rich and everyone else is growing wider and wider, and millions of Americans are working longer hours for lower wages.

OMB Watch has released a statement on the Nussle nomination.



Posted by Matt Lewis, 11:25:02 AM




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