Saturday, April 9, 2011

The Key Elements of the Budget Deal + Take The Poll

The U.S. Capitol is seen at dusk as a government shutdown looms, in Washington, on Friday, April 8, 2011. (AP)
WSJ Online reports:

Under the deal, according to Republican lawmakers, the GOP won budget cuts of $38.5 billion for the remaining six months of the fiscal year, far more than either party had expected a few months ago. Republicans also won an agreement to bar the District of Columbia from using locally raised Medicaid funds for abortion.  Read more...

So, what exactly is in the Budget Deal?  

Below is a list compiled by the WSJ Online.

Key elements of the deal that averts a government shutdown:

  • Sets discretionary spending for the remainder of the 2011 fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, at $1.049 trillion. That is $39 billion less than was budgeted for 2010 and $79 billion less than President Obama had requested. House Republicans had wanted $22 billion in additional cuts.
  • Includes $513 billion for defense – less than Republicans and President Obama wanted but more than the $508 billion provided in 2010.
  • Drops Republican-backed provisions that would have ended funding for the new health-care law, Planned Parenthood Federation of America and National Public Radio.
  • Drops Republican-backed provisions that would have barred funding for Environmental Protection Agency regulation of greenhouse gases and for the Federal Communications Commission to implement "net neutrality" rules.
  • Bans the use of funds for the transfer of prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba to the U.S. mainland.
  • Calls for the Senate to take up-or-down votes on separate bills to cut off funding for the health-care law and to turn federal aid to family-planning programs into block grants to the states.
  • Bans the use of any public funds – federal or local – to pay for abortions in the District of Columbia.
  • Re-establishes a school voucher system for the District of Columbia, a longtime cause of House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio). The program provides low-income children with vouchers to attend a school of their parents' choice.
  • Includes a mandate calling for an annual audit of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which had been created by last year's Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law. Republicans have been widely critical of the law.


6 comments:

  1. It looks like our guys failed their first big test.

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  2. Odie:
    Guess that depends on who you ask. Rove and the boys think it's a great deal. I think they were petrified to have the so-called "government shutdown" pinned on them.
    I guess we'll have to see who actually votes for it next week when the final bill is written.

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  3. Depressing is what it is. We need more control to get what we want. We also need stronger people to push it through.

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  4. Matt:
    That's what elections are for. I also think we are going to see who really is up for the fight come the Debt Ceiling and the 2012 Budget.

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  5. By giving in on billions, we have surrendered any hope of cutting trillions.

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  6. Trestin:
    I seriously doubt that we have a chance to cut trillions as long as Obama is in the WH and the Dems control the Senate. They (the Dems) are already complaining that the budget deal is cutting too much spending. Now Obama is going to lay out new plans to reduce the deficits...can you say tax increases??? I guess he got the message that he better look like he's serious about cutting the deficits, but I doubt we are going to like his ideas.
    As for the GOP giving in on billions...I wish they could have gotten more than they did, but the Dems didn't want to cut anything at the beginning of this discussion. I also think the GOP was afraid they would get blamed for shutting down the government. The Dems and the MSM were spinning their usual lies and sob stories to help that along, not to mention putting the military right in the middle of it all.
    Right now I am listening to David Plouffe on Fox News Sunday. What a crock this guy is spinning. He's trying to say Obama knows we have to cut spending and he's serious about doing it. Geez...

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