"GOP plan cuts social services, boosts military" by Andrew Taylor | Associated Press, May 08, 2012
WASHINGTON - Moving to protect the military from a crippling wave of budget cuts next year, a key House committee voted Monday to instead cut food aid, health care, and social services such as Meals on Wheels.
The measure would require federal employees to contribute more to their pensions, saving taxpayers more than $80 billion over the coming decade, while illegal immigrants would be denied tax refunds from the $1,000 per-child tax credit. There is no companion legislation moving in the Democratic-controlled Senate, and the proposal does not stand a chance of making it to President Obama’s desk for signature.
But the vote was a symbolic swipe at Obama in an election year focused on the economy.
I am sick of the shit-fooleys and political posturing, sorry.
The cuts approved by the Republican-controlled Budget Committee total more than $300 billion over the coming decade. The panel approved them on a party-line 21-9 vote; the full House is scheduled to vote on the measure on Thursday.
I am sick of the shit-fooleys and political posturing, sorry.
The cuts approved by the Republican-controlled Budget Committee total more than $300 billion over the coming decade. The panel approved them on a party-line 21-9 vote; the full House is scheduled to vote on the measure on Thursday.
The proposed reductions are but a fraction of those called for in the broader, nonbinding budget plan that passed the House in March. They are aimed less at taming trillion dollar-plus deficits than preventing the Pentagon from absorbing a 10 percent, $55 billion automatic budget cut in January because last year’s deficit supercommittee couldn’t reach a deal. The Obama administration and lawmakers in both parties warn the defense cuts would reduce troop levels and harm readiness and weapons procurement.
One-fourth of the House GOP spending savings come from programs directly benefiting the poor....
The cuts are probably just a sample of what’s in store next year from Republicans if Mitt Romney wins the White House and the GOP takes back the Senate. Romney promises much tougher cuts to domestic programs and a boost in the Pentagon’s overall budget....
To GOP lawmakers, steps like blocking states from gaming food stamp eligibility rules to boost benefits or trying to stop illegal immigrants from claiming tax refunds of up to $1,000 per child are simply no-brainers. The GOP measure would more strictly enforce a requirement that most food stamp beneficiaries have assets of $2,000 or less.
“We propose to stop fraud in the food-stamp program by ensuring that individuals are actually eligible for the taxpayer benefits they receive,’’ said Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. “That shouldn’t be a partisan issue.’’
But Democrats say Republicans are unfairly targeting the poor and vulnerable.
The top Budget Committee Democrat, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, said the food aid cuts would mean 280,000 children would lose free school lunches and 1.8 million people - out of 46 million currently covered - would lose food stamp benefits while large agricultural businesses would continue to receive lucrative subsidies....
Because it is a corporate government, folks.
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"House OK’s cutting billions from aid to the poor; Signature GOP measure won’t pass in Senate" by Jonathan Weisman | New York Times, May 11, 2012
WASHINGTON - The House on Thursday approved sweeping legislation to cut $310 billion from the deficit over the next decade - much of it from programs for the poor - and to shift some of that savings to the Pentagon to stave off automatic military spending cuts scheduled for next year.
The legislation has no chance of passing the Senate and will not become law....
Republicans framed the fight as a test of seriousness, saying their party was the only one willing to make the difficult choices necessary to tame the deficit....
It's a difficult choice to take food from baby's mouth and pour it into bloated Pentagon coffers?
The bill’s political sensitivity came through in the 218 to 199 vote. Democrats were united in their opposition. Sixteen Republicans sided with the Democrats, and one Republican voted present....
Both sides agree that the broad, across-the-board cuts scheduled for defense and nondefense programs next year are unwise....
At stake, said Representative Darrell Issa, Republican of California, is “saving our men and women in uniform from holding wooden rifles.’’
Please tell me he did not spew such hyperbolic nonsense.
Republicans in the Senate next week will try to force the issue by using parliamentary rules to bring up budget plans that Senate Democrats refuse to produce. That exercise in part is designed to embarrass the president by bringing up his budget, which faces near-unanimous defeat. But it will also put senators on record as for or against Ryan’s budget, which already is a centerpiece of House campaigns....
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"House panel backs defense bill that ignores Pentagon request; Budget adds $8b, protects many favored projects" by Donna Cassata | Associated Press, May 11, 2012
WASHINGTON - The House Armed Services Committee overwhelmingly backed a $642 billion defense bill Thursday that calls for construction of a missile defense site on the East Coast, restores aircraft and ships slated for early retirement, and ignores the Pentagon’s cost-saving request for another round of domestic base closings.
Despite the clamor for fiscal discipline, the committee crafted a military spending blueprint that’s $8 billion more than the level President Obama and congressional Republicans agreed to last summer in the deficit-cutting law. The panel vote was 56-5....
Representative Howard “Buck’’ McKeon, Republican of California, who is chairman of the committee, said in a statement that the legislation meets his goal of “keeping faith with American’s men and women in uniform; restoring fiscal sanity to a defense budget that is inconsistent with the threats America faces; and rebuilding a force after a decade of war.’’
Continuing to read this crap is driving me insane.
Representative Niki Tsongas, a Massachusetts Democrat, added language to the bill that would prevent the Pentagon from taking action involving significant job cuts at Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford, Mass., without congressional authorization. Several cost-cutting measures recently have targeted the base’s Electronic Systems Center.
Democrat, Republican, it doesn't matter; both feed on the war tit.
The Republican-controlled House is expected to vote on the spending blueprint next week, but the legislation will be significantly changed in the Democratic-controlled Senate, where lawmakers are sticking to the lower spending level.
Over hours of sometimes testy debate, the committee backed construction of a missile defense site on the East Coast, rejecting Pentagon arguments that the facility is unnecessary and Democratic complaints that the nearly $5 billion project amounts to wasteful spending in a time of tight budgets.
Republicans insisted that the site is necessary in the event that Iran or North Korea develops an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of attacking the East Coast. Democrats countered that throwing billions of dollars at a missile defense system plagued by failures made no sense, especially when the threat from the two nations is highly uncertain and many in Washington are demanding fiscal discipline.
This “would be spending up to $5 billion in the next three years on a missile defense system that doesn’t work,’’ said Representative John Garamendi, Democrat of California....
Since the mid-1980s, the Pentagon has spent nearly $150 billion on missile defense programs and envisions another $44 billion over the next five years.
That's about $8 billion bucks a year, kids -- more than enough to keep that student loan rate from rising, right?
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Also see:
iRobot turns to the nuclear industry
iRobot turns attention to consumers
Whatever keeps the war machine humming, 'eh?
As wars near end, robot firm battling
Awwwww.... !!!?????????
