Competing Plans For The Federal Budget
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2013-03-12/competing-plans-federal-budget
Since 1921, the White House has been required to submit a budget. But this year marks the first time that Congress, not the president, will begin the budget process. Republican Congressman Paul Ryan offers his party’s budget today. His plan cuts overall spending by nearly five trillion dollars and transforms Medicare and Medicaid. The Ryan budget would also repeal the new health care law. Senator Patty Murray will offer a Senate Democratic version tomorrow, which is expected to call for higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations, and more spending on education and infrastructure. Diane and guests discuss competing visions for the federal budget.
Guests
E.J. Dionne Jr.
senior fellow, Brookings Institution. Author of "Our Divided Political Heart: The Battle for the American Idea in an Age of Discontent."
Vin Weber
co-chairman, Mercury/Clark & Weinstock, a consulting firm; former member of Congress representing Minnesota's 2nd district (1981-93).
Chris Frates
national correspondent, National Journal
Comments
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The budget battle in Washington is exactly the same here in Ohio.The Macro and the Micro. It`s about holding America hostage until the wealth of the people is diverted to pay for tax cuts to the privileged. In D.C. they demand the confiscation of the Social Security Trust Fund and Medicare Trust Funds,to be used to pay the debt of the Bush Tax Cuts,and the privatized for profit Military Complex. In Columbus Ohio,they`re diverting taxes by privatizing, (leasing ),like the lottery,turnpikes,to pay the $8 billion debt created by corporate and other tax cuts to the wealthy class. Now in Ohio they want to steal our city income taxes,to be collected by the State Republicans,and spent as they see fit. If we want police,fire,our streets plowed,our pot holes repaired,we must create another tax.OR,raise property taxes,where the State Republicans have not yet stolen from.It`s not funny. An example would be a town in Tennessee .When the home catches fire,the firemen just watch your home burn,unless you`ve paid and extra fee,once included in your local tax. DISGUSTING...!!!!
The people of Ohio voted to create the lottery to help finance schools. Instead the agency has been leased for a 1 time financial benefit. The money did not go to schools,but filled the void left with the elimination of the "Estate Tax" on the uber wealthy. Now,in return the Republicans made dying for everybody TAXABLE..!! Funerals are now taxable... How`s that for a REAL "Death Tax"..??
Blueneck BillyBob, Thanks. Your Ohio approach (aka Kasich-Kommando) is interesting to say the least. Next door in Indiana, the vaunted "Blade" Mitch Daniels created his own Franken-Budget approach and now he is the President of Purdue U rather than running for POTUS. He successfully persuaded the Republican controlled legislature to put a cap on property taxes - in the state constitution. So, when it came time to fund education and pay teachers, the cupboard was bare. To boot, he "misplaced" half a billion thru various "computer glitches" until after the budgetary process clamped down on every conceivable public service that was not privatized (e.g. he sold the state highway toll roads to offshore companies). That created a large surplus, but he was not finished. Now that he has moved on to old PU, it's assessment time and the homeowners (not businesses of course) are finding their homes are suddenly assessed at 120% to 150% of the prior assessed value. Presto, the property taxes for homeowners are skyrocketing. His successor Mike Tea Party Pence is trying to cut education further by dangling the prospect of an income tax cut of 10%.
A local TV station has exposed the bogus job creation record of Daniels too - only 30% of the jobs his flag waving department claimed they had brought to the state actually materialized - while the tax abatements and goodies for businesses as lures remained in place.
"Blueneck BillyBob wrote:
The budget battle in Washington is exactly the same here in Ohio.The Macro and the Micro. It`s about holding America hostage until the wealth of the people is diverted to pay for tax cuts to the privileged. In D.C. they demand the confiscation of the Social Security Trust Fund and Medicare Trust Funds,to be used to pay the debt of the Bush Tax Cuts,and the privatized for profit Military Complex...
March 11, 2013 - 12:42 pm"
After they have destroyed the Post Office by forcing them to prepay $75 Billion for Retiree Medical Care, what do you think will become of all that Money?
Possibly Tax cuts for the Bloodsuckers or perhaps a tasty little plum for the Privatizer/ Thieves?
Monte Haun mchaun@hotmail.com
President Obama clearly won the election; he received 51%of the popular vote. But when 49% of the voters do not support you, the argument that he has a "mandate" is not supported. He needs to be a leader for all, and find acceptable compromise. The "personality transplant" of late still needs a lot of anti
-rejection therapy.
I wonder if President Romney would have had acted without a “mandate” had he won with a similar margin of victory.
I thought you "progressives" would be quite happy these days in Ohio Blueneck! Gov. John Kasich initiatives have been overturned and he sold out the future taxpayers of Ohio for the Obamacare medicaid expansion.
Nationally John Kasich was out of the picture when SB5 was overturned, now that he sold out the state for reelection, tax payers be damned, you can keep him and you deserve him.
Bush ha)d less popular support and yet he ventured upon two wars (which cost trillions, two separate tax cuts(more trillions), and an unfunded drug benefit(costs tba)
Obama's plans will actually benefit the average American, not just the rich(tax cuts), the defense industry(those two wars), and the drug companies(the drug plan).
Is it any wonder that Americans have all but given up on their political system?
equalizer wrote: "I wonder if President Romney would have had acted without a “mandate” had he won with a similar margin of victory."
One thing for sure, he would not have had a four year and growing honeymoon with a swooning media.
Tom Deacon wrote: "Obama's plans will actually benefit the average American"
HOW? They have done just the opposite so far.
203cc,you`re right.I looked at Indiana recently and it`s " Right to Work Law" passed last year. In less than 1 year the median wage in Indiana went from $12.50 an hour to $11.50 an hour. The unemployment rate went up by a full percent. Obviously,a cap on property taxes forbids citizens in repairing the problems your State government created.It`s a ploy to kill unions. Our Gov.John the "Flim Flam Man" Kasich tried to kill unions a different way,by eliminating collective bargaining. In Ohio we can overturn the T-Party & Columbus stupidity via referendum.
"Corporations are people",allows politicians to ignore the human beings of this country. Citizens United,is a license to steal.
Hey 203cc. I live in West Lafayette. It's even worse than you think. Mr. Daniels has decided he wants a name for himself so he's started a STEM initiative with a budget of $1,000,000+ whose only possible accomplishment is his name on something. The only important thing is making a name for yourself.
Regarding Mr. Ryan:
You'll notice that he only got religion about tax cuts once he was in a position that he could do nothing about it. It's easy to throw out suggestions when they have no hope of going anywhere. It's beyond tiring to him preach about pushing debt on our children and grandchildren when he won't step up and admit we need a $150 billion per year surtax for ten years just to pay for a good part of the wars he voted for.
accountant wrote: "It's beyond tiring to him preach about pushing debt on our children and grandchildren when he won't step up and admit we need a $150 billion per year surtax for ten years just to pay for a good part of the wars he voted for."
Democrats who voted for the Iraq war
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Biden (D-DE)
Breaux (D-LA)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Carnahan (D-MO)
Carper (D-DE)
Cleland (D-GA)
Clinton (D-NY)
Daschle (D-SD)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Edwards (D-NC)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Harkin (D-IA)
Hollings (D-SC)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kohl (D-WI)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Miller (D-GA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Reid (D-NV)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Schumer (D-NY)
Torricelli (D-NJ
Blueneck BillyBob wrote:
"they demand the confiscation of the Social Security Trust Fund and Medicare Trust Funds,to be used to pay the debt of the Bush Tax Cuts,and the privatized for profit Military Complex. "
Huh?!
Earth to BB. There is no "trust fund". There are only IOUs. You can't pay for anything with an IOU. That's why we're 17T in debt.
"Sweden will cut its corporate tax rate next year to 22 percent to attract business investment, create new jobs and prevent companies from leaving the the Nordic region’s biggest economy....“Corporate taxes are probably the most damaging tax of all,” Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said at a news conference in Stockholm.
"COPENHAGEN—Denmark, battling a stagnant economy and concerns about a productivity gap with other nations, is planning to slash its corporate taxes in phases over the next three years to better stack up against other countries in the region. The move, which follows similar tax cuts in the U.K., Sweden and Finland"
I recall a show on DR over a year ago... Only one in ten people in private sector retirement plans actually collect.
Blueneck"Corporations are people",allows politicians to ignore the human beings of this country. Citizens United,is a license to steal"
What about Obama's "Organizing for Action" PAC ?
First time that I know of for a sitting President in his last term in office has a political action committee. You libs are hypocrites in the extreme, it goes well with your parade of lies.
“Organizing for Action’s organizers have indicated the group will accept unlimited donations from individuals and corporations alike. The group has promised to disclose its donors but will release only limited information about their gifts, placing their donations within dollar ranges rather than revealing specific amounts."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/02/26/watchdog...
Ryan's Republican budget:
Lots of cuts for poor and middle class... ZERO is asked of America's wealthiest!
Let's have Republicans ensure that wealth gap keeps widening!!
Note that it is the failure of the Obama Administration to produce a Proposed Budget, as required by law by the first Monday in February, which is the impetus for further divisions in Congress resulting in separate budget proposals.
Please explain to Eli why he should back PBS when Diane Rehm and others continue to book two Republicans on every show compared to one Democrat
The trust the world has for the value of U.S. Treasury Bonds,is the same trust the world has for the value of your cash.
How can you separate them..??
ROFLMAO!
You can't help but at least smile. A fraud presented as a budget. ANYBODY could have come up with these jokes of budgets. All you have to do is throw all the babies out with the bath water.
Did Paul Ryan mention how much he and his fellow clowns will take in the way of cuts? Of course not. It's the same old song and dance routine: the aristocracy gets the cream, and everyone else gets the shaft.
America--the decline continues.
Wil we see the Ds claiming that having to pay less interest on the national debt is a "cut"?
I have heard the that the Ds may say that if we need to borrow less, the interest not paid should be called a cut.
Such logic would not sit well with me.....
@mchaun
You ask: "After they have destroyed the Post Office by forcing them to prepay $75 Billion for Retiree Medical Care, what do you think will become of all that Money?" Excellent question, and I don't think the answer is too difficult to discern.
The Postal Service is being ripened for privatization once the full amount has been prepaid. It will be offered up to private buyer(s) at a knockdown price. The new owners won't have the retiree obligation so, lo and behold, the prepayment will end up fattening the new corporate owners' corporate bottom line.
And by the way, the privatized mail service will hike charges to rural areas to prohibitive levels and you can bet that once the outcry starts, the Congressional friends of the corporate owners will be tapping the Feds for a subsidy.
Along with "reforms" to Social Security and Medicare, this is part of the right's grand plan to convert public assets and public services into corporate profits and corporate welfare.
I wonder if anything would change if the members of the House spent a day in the "shoes" of those who will be the most affected by the proposed cuts.
I am appalled and disgusted by the ignorance, stupidity, greed and hate that keeps anyone but the wealthy to continue voting Republican!
michiganjf wrote: "Let's have Republicans ensure that wealth gap keeps widening!!"
That's Obama right now, do you read and understand any news at all?
Huffington post
Income Inequality Worse Under Obama Than George W. Bush
"President Obama may talk a big game about economic fairness, but his record on the issue doesn't quite match up."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/11/income-inequality-obama-bush_n_...
Democrats and Republicans are conducting a good cop/bad cop frame up interrogation on the American people. We are being manipulated to confess that our basic material needs are extravagant and that our wages and benefits are too high for our economy to compete. Paul Ryan is the leather-jacketed slapper, and Barack Obama keeps promising you a soda or coffee he never brings.
In response you sports fans on this forum wave your big middle foam fingers and play their game show (copying cheerleader Diane and her booster panel). Our standards of human rights, health and technology are low and falling. Our standard of living and our incomes are dropping. Neither style of Oligarch worship and service seems to work except for our Owners, and only in the short run. We need to purge our colonized minds and demand what we are due. Look out, the Chinese and Indian workforces may beat us to the punchbowl. This financial royalism is not sustainable.
And as for Medicare and Social Security "reforms."
If the Medicare retirement age is raised, let's have everyone work as a roofer, carpenter, highway asphalt paver, coal miner, etc for a few years before they vote to raise the Medicare eligible age.
Social Security: raise the cap on wages subject to the tax - and we are solvent for 75 years!
In light of the fact that this government is militarizing all police forces...have purchased more than 1 billion rounds of hollow point ammunitions....enacted the NDAA with terms that annihilate habeas corpus rights....set up internment camps across the country.... continually lie to the American public on State sponsored TV of the financial condition of our Country....
I doubt this Federal Budget is anything more than just another corrupt White House smoke screen to keep Americans in the dark until the actual s**t hits the fan....
United Slaves of America
Can someone commenting here, or one of the guests please explain the historical precedent or economic theory behind Congressman Ryan's new budget plan? Seeking a balanced budget strictly through cuts seems like a never-ending game of chasing your own tail; the lack of revenue caused by withering federal investment could make the balance difficult to attain, could it not?
mancuroc is correct about where this slave ship is heading.
Our Owners know they are too weak and mistaken to manage a thinking public. I expect our best resisters and most insightful analysts to be soon thrown overboard. That's why we're headed for deep water and high seas. Hey, if you don't see how Bradley Manning and WikiLeaks are connected to your lifestyle possibilities you are truly in a coma.