The Effects of a Government Shutdown and What Could Prevent It
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-02-28/effects-government-shutdown-and-what-could-prevent-it
Washington's battle over the budget has intensified as the March 4th deadline for an agreement nears. Democrats over the weekend signaled a willingness to accept a stop-gap measure offered by Republicans. If approved, it would keep the government operating until mid-March. But the underlying conflict would remain. Republicans want $61 billion in spending cuts, which Democrats believe are too severe and would hurt economic recovery efforts. Complicating prospects for a longer-term solution are tea party lawmakers. They say even the Republican plan does not go far enough. The budget showdown.
Guests
Norman Ornstein
resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and coauthor of "The Broken Branch: How Congress Is Failing America and How to Get It Back on Track."
Naftali Bendavid
national correspondent, The Wall Street Journal.
Daniel Glickman
senior fellow, Bipartisan Policy Center; former secretary of agriculture under President Bill Clinton; former Democratic congressman, representing Kansas.
Matt Kibbe
president and CEO of FreedomWorks and co-author with former House Majority Leader Dick Armey of the book, "Give Us Liberty: A Tea Party Manifesto."
Comments
Please familiarize yourself with our Code of Conduct and Terms of Use before posting your comments.
I would add that I am OK with my tax "increases", if those much wealthier than I kick in their own share, and if we finally begin to reign in our military industrial complex.
This discussion is pointless. This discussion of debt is completely created and driven by the right. They own nearly all of the media and if i wanted to hear the right wing argument i would turn on any other news source than NPR. Diane has on a teabagger, a libertarian, a Murdoch reporter, and a former secretary of agriculture? The left is not represented here at all. How are we supposed to get serious about spending discussions when at the outset the set of opinions are biased? Not to mention this Matt Kibbie guy is just batshit crazy--for every dollar the government spends the private sector does not? Im sorry but that is the most ridiculous thing i have ever heard. Why is he even getting any airtime?
Why is no one talking about the billions owed to the us?
Your panel includes members of such groups as Amer Enterprise, WSJ and Tea Party. The opposing side is some obscure Clinton era cabinet member/politician? Please tell me how that represents "all sides".
Republicans do not acknowledge that they are mostly responsible for the deficit. They do not acknowledge that they backed the Bush/Cheney coalition in everything they wanted and most Republicans insisted that Deficit didn't matter as long as they were in power. As soon as Obama was elected, they started stressing over the deficit. Republicans are totally irresponsible. also why do they designate Social Security as an entitlement (welfare) since we paid into this. I worked for 50 years and paid into Social Security and I EXPECT to be able to draw it until I die. As far as privatizing Social Security, I also have contributed to IRA's and 401K's and I have less money from that than if I had just banked the money thanks to the radical shifts in the market.
Super rich do not the support economy in prortion to their take. It has never been shown with reliable figures that taxing them at 60% for earnings [all] over $400,000 did any thing but stimulate the economy by providing money for infrastructure. They must be made to pay their share or we continue to have no middle class.
American Interprise Institute was created by the rich to reverse the New Deal by hook or crook.
You know? I think we should have a show with many of these commentators as panelists. And hold it on cable, 24/7
Diane:
I live by one of the Tea Party strong holds, Carson City, Nevada. When the Bush Tax Cuts were extended, it was shown that letting those tax cuts expire for the wealthy would close the deficit MORE than any cuts they could do now. Yet there was not one peep or demonstration from the Tea Party. The Tea Party has lost all credibility on reducing spending and deficits.
If the republicans really want to balance the budget why don't they agree to end tax cuts for the wealthy?
There are poor and working class republicans, who also do not want cuts in social security and medicare.
I think those republicans are going to not like cutting these programs.
There is a widening gulf between the haves and the have-nots.
thank you
Once again I find myself turning the show off because it fails to include a true liberal progressive position. And now you have added a Tea Party front group to drive the discussion even more to the radical right.
I am sorry to see this bias becoming entrenched on the Diane Rehm show when the subject matter is economic and public policy issues. You are close to losing this long time listener.
right on. they are ignoring the elephant in the room. most comments online are about the tax cut for the wealthy. Is there no compassion?
Why so much greed?
We continually hear the term "all must sacrifice" in regard to lowering the government debt. But the "all" apparently refers to only the middle class and less fortunate when used in this context. Never is it suggested that the economically privilege should pay more for the government that protects their way of life, multiple cars, homes, etc.
Even Obama has shirked in calling for their fare share.
In a country were the marginal tax rates on individuals and corporations is at it lowest rate in 60 years, why is it, that increased taxation on the wealthy is no longer part of the argument, especially from the conservatives.
Take away my heath care and I have to go without, do the same to someone with a millions dollars in the bank and he just goes out a buys what he needs, For the wealthy, the only sacrifice is taxation, and they wont hear of it.
They should note what is happening in countries were the middle class has been pushed to poverty.
I too am *very* disappointed in the imbalance on the panel. Were there no available analysts from the middle or left of the political spectrum? If so, why not schedule the discussion for a time when the whole spectrum can be represented? Listeners are accustomed to a higher standard from the Diane Rehm show.
Not to mention the fact that only a fraction of the show touched on an actual gov't. shutdown and what that would mean to both consumers of services and federal employees.
Hi Diane, I love your show, thanks especially for this one. I just received an email talking about the fact that HUGE corporations such as Exxon, Bank of America, Citigroup and General Electric paid NOTHING in taxes. It makes the conversation on your show feel irrelivant. We are rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, and the amount of cynicism and posturing from both parties is unconscionable. We seem to be for Democracy around the world, but not so much for around here. I was at the rally in support of collective bargaining here in Phoenix, we working people need to stand together and get the big money stranglehold off our government. You can't expect the politicians who are raking in the money to say no, and root out the corruption. We will have to do it, together, regardless of party, gender and or age. Thanks for the opportunity to speak.
I'm extremely dissappointed that the tax cuts for the wealthy has not been brought up, even though most of the e-mails ask about this issue.
It's not even been mentioned with only 5 minutes to go.
Is no one listening?
I do love your show Dianne, but this one is not being fair.
Please have a show on what everyone is emailing about, taxing for the very rich. Please have someone on soon who will address this.
Thatguy64
They are already paying some of he highest taxes. Check to see what they pay in NE states. Total the State and Federal Income in a state like NY. Figure out property, sales tax later.
Strat42
Is not American Enterprise a liberal think tank? Just have not heard of them much.
Sandra Brady:
We had 9/11 and that cost us on the deficit. Glade we got Saddam out of the middle east. Perhaps these results against these dictators are the result of what the US did in Iraq. Got Saddam out.
As for SS, it is an entitlement, we are forced to pay into the system. There are people that are beneficiaries who never paid into the system.
Good luck in getting your month SS check. We had a month or so ago where a shortfall of 45 Billion by what was coming in from FICA and SS was not enough for pay offs. The reason being that there was so much unemployment to recover these taxes.
Still believe that when I got out of school 30 yrs ago, if I would have put my money in a money market instead of SS, I would be better off. Still have 16 years to retire and I may not get anything or it becomes worthless because of inflation.
dbierman:
The middle class is already being pushed into bankruptcy under this Administration. Do you realize that the total amount of debt created by the Obama Administration is more, than combined from George Washington to Bush ll. That is right. Service on the debt by 2019 will be 80 to 90 cents on the dollar. These are CBO figures.
Yet we were told that the one trillion dollar recovery package would reduced unemployment under 8% by his Excellency Barrack Obama.
We need more cuts in corporation rates to be more competitive. Look at Europe's corp rates. They are a lower than us. We are in a global economy.
dengre
It was the middle class that got tea party candidates in office. Don't know what the heck you are talking about.
You got your Abramoff on the left. They love money just like anybody else.
I think in a fair world, a national hiring day would be great. However, with many companies hiring an extra person is an unnecessary burden. The company does not need an extra person or chooses to operate within a budget set for a specific limit of employees. By adding an extra employee, the company wouldn't be performing up to standards that are imposed by the shareholders or owners of the company.
Where I work, a new employee wouldn't really help much. He/she wouldn't have any job duties because they are already filled. A national hiring day would be skipped.
It is a great idea, one that speaks or true positive value. But, to companies...I don't think enough care about patriotism unless it helps them with an extra buck.
Several people have remarked that this panel was skewed rightward. Others have outlined the checkered career of Mr. Kibbe and commented on his incessant repetition of talking points and disproven theories.
I have to wonder what interests demanded or organized this particular show "framed" against the interests of the middle and working class, and the poor; in short, the vast majority.
Who is in the driver's seat at WAMU? Who butters their bread?
This didn't sound like the DRShows I listened to years ago.
Diane may still be paddling the old canoe with Maxie on her lap but now she is passing through hostile waters. Why doesn't she object to being so ill-used? It makes me cry to think John's illness has left her without needed moral support. The listeners need to get behind her when she makes a good move.
I've never seen a comment board overwhelmingly dominated by thoughts with which I am in such full agreement. Diane always says, "send us your email...". I encourage people to take your complaints about the consistent right-wing bias of DR's guests (The American Enterprise Institute seems to have a perpetually reserved seat at the table) directly to the show via email... during the show! That's what I did this morning. And I'm going to keep doing it. The "discussion" this morning was completely un-illuminating! I think I know more about Obama's "deficit commission" than any of those guys do.... just as a regular reader of the New York Times. NPR can lose its funding for all I care if this is what they have to offer us.
Diane,
Really, is this the best balance you can think of for your show? I suppose you must agree that America is a conservative country and probably needs to be represented by an all conservative panel but your audience is actually far more sophisticated than you give them credit for. If you look at facts, a messy matter for the 'faith-based' right, Americans overwhelmingly want more spending and higher tax rates on the wealthy. Does your show really feel the need to snub them to curry favor with the tea party (otherwise known as the extreme right of the Republican party)? This trend on the the part of your show is not new but has recently reached a point where I can no longer listen. Regrettably, I will stop making your show the go-to event of my morning until you balance the show better and give me more than the Fox news party line .
re: B. O. G. U. S. statement by guest.
I don’t know whether the guest was being delusional or disingenuous when he claimed that WWII was paid for by selling bonds that were subsequently paid off. Yes, the U.S. government sold war bonds to pay for WWII. Yes, those bonds have been retired. Paid off? How about rolled over, replaced by other bonds. Since the Hoover administration, FY 1930 specifically, there have been exactly five years in which the total federal debt has been reduced, two in the Truman years, three in the Eisenhower years. Those years are FY 1948, FY 1951, FY 1956, FY 1957 and FY 1960.
As for the post WWII prosperity mentioned on-air there is something guests on this and similar shows ignore. At the end of WWII there were two large industrial powers still operating, the US and the YSSR, and the latter only partially. Canada and Australia were operating, but they weren’t “large”. The industrial capacity of Japan, Germany, most of the rest of Europe, China, and parts of England had been destroyed. Much of the post war prosperity came from helping most of those countries rebuild.
One thing you do have to give Clinton credit for is pinning the 1995 government shutdown on the Republicans. Congress passed a budget, Clinton vetoed it and shut down the government. Congress got the blame for the shutdown.
urbanrage
Sure they do, the people elected 63 new Republicans to House of Congress.,
urbanrage
Sure they do, the people elected 63 new Republicans to House of Congress.,
So Kibbe said something to the effect that not cutting spending now would choke off the economic recovery ... and nobody contradicted him. Of course any economist would tell you the surest way to choke off recovery at this point is to cut spending. Even if it meant more inflation in the future, or an unmanageable debt, the rationale for reducing spending in the long run cannot be to encouarge economic growth. You simply have to come up with a better reson. Why do we allow this posturing to continue unchallenged?
this was a very disappointing show. the real point was entirely avoided: the concentration of wealth in the hands of fewer and fewer people who contribute less and less to the general welfare, the widening gap between the rich and the poor, the class war being waged in this country by the republican party and the super-rich people who subsidize it. i'm left wondering how much is diane rehm worth? what are her assets? where are her loyalties? how deeply is she invested in the military-industrial complex? she turned to matt kibbe quite a few times for answers, and not unsympathetically... i'm left with a bad taste in my mouth and a general feeling of disgust. ok, i know the topic was the potential shutdown of the government over the budget debate, but what drives the budget debate? it's the class war, stupid!