DEBT: Will the Dems Shut Down the Government?
This is certainly a fight worth fighting to the bitter end.
CNN:
Senate Democrats pledge fight over debt:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- A nasty budget fight is brewing in Congress as Senate Democrats and some conservative Republicans said on Friday that they will not support efforts this month to increase U.S. borrowing authority, a move needed to avoid a government default.
Democrats, who hope to gain control of the House and Senate in this year's congressional elections, are looking for a debate on the credit limit to highlight the nation's mounting debt at a time when President Bush also is pushing to make his tax cuts permanent.
"Democrats are not going to vote to increase this debt," Reid said...
House Democrats also have warned that they would oppose a debt limit increase without also putting into place a plan to eventually balance a federal budget that could see a deficit of around $400 billion this year.
Now, THAT's what I like to hear from the Democrats. If we have to shut down the government, so be it- it's been done before. This is a good fight for many reasons:
- It highlights the utter hypocracy between the GOP's small-government rhetoric and their actions. This could be the final nail in the deficit hawks' support for the GOP.
- If done right, we will remind everyone of how much better the Democrats (see Bill Clinton) are better at managing the economy.
- It could force Congress' hand to not renew the Bush Billionaire tax cuts.
- Stopping excessive debt is the right thing to do.
- It is yet another cloud in the perfect storm that is destroying any remaining faith in Bush's ability to run the country.
- It can give the Democrats a chance to bludgeon Bush with one of the best new phrases I've heard lately, Bush's "baby tax."
posted by Rich at 4:46 PM
2 Comments:
So. Which programs will Democrats vote to cut, then?
1. We should vote to amend the medicare law and once again allow the gov't to negotiate (see: "free market principles") prices with the drug companies. That could save about 100 billion dollars.
2. Don't allow food stamp money to purchase soft drinks- this won't save food stamp money, but it will reduce medicare costs as we won't subsidize people to get diabetes and obese and then pay for the costs of treatment
3. I would get rid of all the pork in the highway bill. That would save about 18 billion (I think that's the figure I heard). On top of that I would cut 70 billion out of highway maintenance, but add 30 billion to mass transit, for a net total 40 billion saved
4. I would give a complete across-the-board cut of the entire budget of 1.5%, except for items regarding education, military research and innovation, and clean energy.
5. I would make it illegal for pharmacutical companies to advertize drugs on television. Since only a doctor can perscribe them anyway, I would limit their advertizing to medical journals and such. This will cut the costs of medicine by some degree.
6. I would scale back military operations in Iraq. I think the Iraqi forces are at the point where 6 months from now we can just keep a contingent of military advisors to provide logistical support and we can provide air support from a base in the Kurdish region. I would use half of the savings to fund reconstruction projects, and the other half would be saved.
7. I would cut military aid to Egypt- they are more of a problem in the war on terror than an ally. Currently we give the 3 billion per year.
8. I would scale back some NASA projects.
9. And to cover the rest, and pay back the rediculous amount of Bush debt, I would legalize gambling in DC, with the profits going to the fed gov't and have a nationwide soft-drink sales tax. Any additional shortfall, if any, would be covered by returning to Clinton-era tax levels, which we all know did not stifle the economy one bit.
10. And I would have all government contracts be open to a transparent, competitive bidding process- that will save untold amounts of money.
how's that?
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