Posted on 07/28/2011 3:54:15 PM PDT by kathsua
Changing the budget process to a rational one that Americans can understand will immediately benefit everyone.
What happens with the debt ceiling debate? Will the government default? Will President Obama get both his $2.5 trillion spending increase and an extension past the next election? Is the current House Republican battle royal over the Boehner plan worth the candle?
The game of poker was in the news a few weeks ago when President Obama reportedly told House Majority Leader Eric Cantor: “Eric, don’t call my bluff!”
Speaking of poker, I was about 9 years old when I first started playing with neighborhood boys. We sat on my folks’ carpet floor, a carpet covered with pennies and played for hours. Years later during college summers, I sat around a table with co-workers and we played for $20 limit bets. In one game, car keys went into the pot. It was a big difference in risk, but the potential reward was there.
Mr. Boehner, like a modern Sisyphus rolling his rock to the top of the mountain without making progress, is battling for pennies. Instead of haggling for ephemeral spending cuts over ten years—an impossible political mountain to climb—House Speaker John Boehner should change the stakes in the debt ceiling negotiations by pushing for a meaningful long term change in the budgeting process. He should push for structural budget reform: forget fighting over cuts in the rate of growth under the 1974 Baseline Budget rules, rules that assume government is going in the right direction and future increases are built-in. Under those rules even the Paul Ryan budget added trillions of new spending to the nation’s debt. Instead, he should promise to advance a clean debt-ceiling bill without any future spending cuts from the current budget in return for future budgets based on “zero based budgeting.” “Zero based budgeting” as explained in Wikipedia, “requires that all spending must be re-justified each year or it will be eliminated from the budget regardless of previous spending levels.”
After all, how many Americans in financial trouble assume that next year they can spend an additional 7%, or so, just because the calendar turned to a new year? Families and businesses know that if they are in debt and current out-go exceeds income, they can’t spend more next year than they did this year. It is time for the political class to follow the same rules as any American family watching their pennies.
Democrats will scream that this is draconian, that certain programs will have new expenses and need funding. The answer is that funding is available; the agency just needs to come before Congressional budget committees and make a case for additional funds. Budget committees can then scrub the agencies performance, their efficiency reform efforts, their success in prosecuting fraud cases or fighting waste and abuse. If the agency has performed satisfactorily in all these areas and the request is legitimate and other funds are not available within the agency, then Congress can grant the request. The difference is the grant for new spending will be a conscious, knowing decision and not a mindless increase without Congressional oversight and supervision.
If Mr. Boehner can change the structural budget rules under which the game is played that is worth more than the pot with the car keys; it is like winning the title deed in the pot for the gold mine. Changing the budget process to a rational one that Americans can understand during these days of scarce funds will immediately benefit everyone. An added benefit is that the Congressional Budget Office will report new budget proposal in English and not in some Washington code. If Mr. Boehner is going to play poker with President Obama and “call his bluff” then the stakes should be worthy of the risk.
Why do you think they call them “members?”
I’d go for killing the choo choo project right off the top and throw in a whole truckload of federal agencies.
We are ceding our enemies a $9.5 trillion propaganda advantage with this CBO scoring travesty. And any republican who pretends not to notice it has to be replaced.
Let’s see, no increase in debt limit, gov’t cannot borrow anymore and goes on a cash basis only. So pay interest, SS, medicare, military. Then what? No money for dept of education—OK by me; no money for department of transportation (except air controllers) —OK by me; shut down dept of commerce-works for me; eliminate 90% of legislative and executive staffing-damn sure works for me; on and on.
So what’s the problem?
The only thing Boner is pushing for is the end of our country. Apparently, we have to elect a zillion repubics so that they feel sufficiently safe in numbers....
But somehow, I expect they would fail to muster the necessary courage even with a zillion.
I can't put too much stock in the BBA. Let's concentrate on smaller government, less intrusive laws, and elimination of Marxist/Keynesian/Progressive/Shari'a Compliant financial principles.
Negotiating with Democrats over anything is futile. They are liars and deceivers who never keep their promises. Do what is right and let them react to it as they want.
I would start with eliminating the Depts of Energy, started in 1977 with the goal of making his country energy independent, and Education which is only making education worse. If you are going to have to give up something make it something that counts.
Every one of them, except a few of the freshmen Tea Party members, has built their wealth and power on defiling our Constitution and stealing our hard earned money. They will make every excuse in the book, plus some, to tell us zero based budgeting is impossible either due to “political realities” or for some concocted fiscal lie.
If the government’s going to do zero-based budgeting they’ll need to first look at which of their departments are unconstitutional and either shut them down or begin the process of phasing them out and devolving those responsibilities back to the states, counties and localities.
Why continue feeding what ought not be fed, even if we’re talking about going on a fiscal diet?
Yes, and I'd like unicorns to serve me breakfast in bed each morning, too! Could you work on that, Mr. Boehner?
bkmk
I need to make a correction:
Make that Boehner needs to go back to Ohio, sorry for the insult Tennissee, it was my ignorance.
Take a swim in the river Boner!
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