Budget

Dems Sharpen Opposition As GOP Advances Cuts To Poverty Programs

Sahil Kapur | May 8, 2012, 6:05AM

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)

House Republicans advanced a measure Monday that shifts automatic defense spending cuts the parties agreed to last August as part of a bipartisan debt-limit deal to domestic programs aimed at mitigating poverty and working-class struggles.

In clearing the legislation, the Budget Committee put it on a glide path to passing the full House -- but that's when it falls into limbo. Senate Democratic leadership had a concise message for their GOP colleagues: Dream on.

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Kent Conrad

Conrad: I Advised Obama Not To Support Bowles-Simpson

Sahil Kapur | April 8, 2012, 4:00PM

President Barack Obama

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) said Sunday that he counseled President Obama not to champion the Bowles-Simpson fiscal commission recommendations because that would have "automatically" turned House Republicans against them.

On a Fox News Sunday panel, freshman Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), a member of the Budget Committee, said the president "totally ignored" the work of Bowles-Simpson and showed "no leadership" on the matter.

"I don't think that's fair," Conrad responded. "Look, he asked me for my advice. I told him look, 'If you embrace this totality of Bowles-Simpson, what will happen is Republicans in the House will automatically be against it. So you need to make the case for why it's necessary, but you need those of us in Congress to work it out.'"

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Budget

Dems Irate As GOP Set To Break Debt Limit Deal

Sahil Kapur | March 8, 2012, 1:18PM

Signs mounted Thursday that House Republican leaders, under pressure from their conservative members, will submit a budget that calls for cutting federal programs beneath the levels they agreed to in the bipartisan August debt limit law. Democrats warned that violating the agreement could spark a government shutdown fight later this year.

Echoing Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), Rep. Chris Van Hollen (MD), the top Democrat on the Budget Committee, told TPM that the House GOP must not go down that road.

"Look, an agreement is agreement, and they should stick to the agreement," Van Hollen said in a brief interview. "And not otherwise risk ultimately messing up the entire process, with a worst case scenario of a government shutdown. They should recognize what the risks are in violating an agreement."

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House Republicans

Top Dem Warns House GOP Not To Renege On Budget Deal

Sahil Kapur | March 7, 2012, 11:34AM

Amid rumblings that House Republicans may break their end of a major budget agreement they struck with Democrats last fall, and possibly touch off another government shutdown battle later this year, a top Senate Democrat issued a stern warning to the GOP: Don't go there.

"We had a deal last August on the budget numbers, and we expect them to live with that deal," said Sen. Patty Murray (WA) -- a member of the Democratic leadership, high-ranking member of the Budget Committee and erstwhile co-chair of the Super Committee -- in an interview with TPM. "I have been astonished how many times they play with fire. Last August they almost shut the government down, a year ago they almost shut the government down, by trying to go to a place where most Americans don't believe we should be going."

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Paul Ryan

Are Republicans About To Commit Medicare Suicide?

Brian Beutler | February 7, 2012, 5:40AM

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) speaks during a press conference on the debt ceiling in Washington, D.C. on August 1, 2011

It's shaping up to be spring 2011 redux. Just under a year ago, Republicans -- euphoric after a midterm election landslide, and overzealous in their interpretation of their mandate -- passed a budget that called for phasing out Medicare over the coming years and replacing it with a subsidized private insurance system for newly eligible seniors.

The backlash was ugly. But Republicans seem to have forgotten how poisonous that vote really was, and remains...because they're poised to do it again. This time they're signaling they'll move ahead, with a modified plan -- one that, though less radical, would still fundamentally remake and roll back one of the country's most popular and enduring safety net programs.

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Balanced Budget Amendment

Despite Packed Agenda, Congress Returns To Radical Balanced Budget Amendment

Brian Beutler | November 14, 2011, 6:01AM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Houser Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA)

Congress is busy. It has to extend federal funding for all federal agencies before November 18, or else the government will shut down, and the deficit Super Committee has to recommend a big package of budget cuts to the House and Senate by November 23, or set in motion dramatic automatic spending cuts to defense programs and Medicare providers. But it's still suffering a hangover from the debt limit fight. And so this week House GOP leaders will fulfill one of the terms of the debt limit law, and appease some conservatives, by holding a vote on a Constitutional Balanced Budget Amendment.

There's a bit of a strife among Republicans -- and even among some Democrats -- over the details of such an amendment. But almost any version would constitute a radical policy shift for the country, and threaten key safety net programs as the country ages and the cost of health care soars. It would lead to dramatic swings in U.S. fiscal policy, and at a time of high unemployment, would cost the economy dearly.

Don't believe me, here's what analysts at Macroeconomic Advisers said about it.

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Super Committee

Unemployed Activists Lobby Super Committee Members On Budget Cuts

Ryan J. Reilly | October 6, 2011, 11:36AM

Ginger Heatter had a full scholarship to Cornell and was working on her master's degree when the economy tanked.

It was quite an accomplishment for the New Jersey resident. She had dropped out of high school, married young and had a daughter at 21. Before the economic crisis, she thought she had her life on track: she got her GED, a bachelor's degree from Boston College. Now she's been unemployed for a year and not sure of what the future holds for her and her 15-year-old daughter.

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Super Committee

Lost And Found: Papers Detailing Items On GOP Super Committee Wishlist

Susan Crabtree | September 23, 2011, 12:43PM

Image From Danny E Hooks / Shutterstock

In these times of secretive deficit super committee meetings, back-room pressuring on particular proposals and endless speculation on what the panel will wind up doing, it might be a good idea not to leave internal working deficit-reduction documents lying around the Capitol.

TPM got a hold of what appears to be an internal GOP Super Committee wish list -- a chart of working proposals for finding hundreds of billions of dollars in cost savings. A source recently forwarded the documents after finding them lying on a table outside the Speaker's lobby at the end of August, just when members selected to serve on the joint-deficit panel were being announced.

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Grover Norquist

Norquist Calls Sen. Murray 'The Lady From Washington' Who 'Doesn't Do Budgets'

Brian Beutler | August 18, 2011, 8:53AM

Grover Norquist

All six Republicans on the new deficit Super Committee have all kissed anti-tax zealot Grover Norquist's ring. So now he's training his sights on the six committee Democrats -- not always politely. Here's the New York Times.

All six Republicans on the committee have signed the pledge not to raise taxes dictated by Grover Norquist, who heads Americans for Tax Reform. Now, Mr. Norquist said, he will focus on keeping the Democrats in line. "The Republicans are serious budget reformers; the lady from Washington," Mr. Norquist said of Mrs. Murray, "doesn't do budgets."

"The lady from Washington," is the only female member of Senate leadership in either party, and the second highest-ranking member, male or female, of the Senate Budget Committee.

Budget

GOP to Newt: Leave Paul Ryan Alone!

Benjy Sarlin | May 17, 2011, 10:57AM

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA)

The melee ignited by Newt Gingrich's condemnation of the House GOP budget as "right-wing social engineering" is intensifying as Republican leaders, conservative editorial pages, and right-leaning pundits join together to condemn his remarks.

There's no question there was a misspeak here," Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) told WLS radio in Chicago, according to The Hill. "Just to sit here while all but three House Republicans voted for the Ryan budget, to somehow portray that as a radical step, I believe, is a tremendous misspeak."

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Paul Ryan

Dem Decries GOP's 'Harry Potter Budget Plan'

Susan Crabtree | April 15, 2011, 5:43PM

Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY)

Despite widespread criticism, the House passed the GOP budget plan on largely partisan lines before leaving for a two-week recess Friday, prompting an angry outcry from Democrats on the Budget Committee who are starting to get more creative in their taunts.

After the budget vote, Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) labeled it the "Harry Potter Budget Plan."

"Don't worry about actual economic measurements," he said. "Just wave a magic wand and it all adds up."

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Budget

White House Slams Ryan Budget For Failing Test of Fairness

Susan Crabtree | April 12, 2011, 4:02PM

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Tuesday that House GOP Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) blueprint for next year's spending is fundamentally unfair.

"It fails the test of balance, and balance is essential," Carney told reporters at a briefing.

The comments come one day before President Obama plans to give a landmark speech on his vision for reducing the nation's deficit and cutting long-term spending.

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Budget

White House: Failing to Raise Debt Ceiling Would Be 'Armageddon-Like' For Economy

Susan Crabtree | April 11, 2011, 3:00PM

President Obama speaks at a bipartisan White House gathering with Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) in the background.

Fresh off last week's down-to-the-wire spending showdown, President Obama and Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) are locking horns again on fiscal matters -- and this time the stakes for the U.S. economy are even more monumental.

The White House is demanding a "clean" bill to raise the nation's debt ceiling rather than using it to cut additional spending or for policy additions like last week's attempt to attach legislation defunding Planned Parenthood, but Boehner has already said that idea is dead on arrival. There's no way a debt-ceiling bill would pass the House (i.e. the muster of his unruly GOP conference) without some spending cuts for balance.

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Medicare

Dems Find Message Discipline Against GOP Plan To Scrap Medicare

Brian Beutler | April 6, 2011, 8:50AM

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)

A funny thing happened on the way to a government shutdown. Democrats got on message about the House Republicans' other, bigger budget, which creates a policy blueprint for the next decade.

That message? The GOP plan to end Medicare and hack away at Medicaid is a non-starter. This came from top Democrats across the political spectrum.

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Health Care

How The GOP Plan To Kill Medicare And Medicaid Would Work

Brian Beutler and Benjy Sarlin | April 5, 2011, 9:26AM

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)

On Tuesday, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) will introduce a 10-year budget proposal that would over time eliminate Medicare and Medicaid and replace them with less generous health care plans for the elderly, poor, and disabled. The reviews are in, from experts and advocates, and it looks like there's gonna be a fight.

Phasing Out Medicare

Starting with Medicare, Ryan's critics attack his plan as a step back from the single-payer system that, despite looming financing problems, serves the elderly very well.

"There ought to be a TV show called 'That 90s Show,'" said David Cutler, a Harvard economics professor and one-time adviser to President Obama. "What Paul Ryan has in mind is to recreate the managed care era, do for the elderly what we rejected for ourselves."

Republicans will be loath to admit this, but the system Ryan has in mind for Medicare works a lot like dread 'ObamaCare,' too. He developed it in concert with Alice Rivlin, who used to run the Office of Management and Budget for President Clinton. They propose giving the elderly a menu of private insurance options (think the health care exchange) and then subsidizing those plans based on need (think insurance credits). Thus, in addition to all the questions Republicans will have to answer about the plan from experts and stakeholders, they'll have to explain why the health care law is terrible for working adults, but a great idea for retirees.

"I keep talking to Paul and trying to convince him of that," Rivlin told Ezra Klein recently. "But even if he agreed with me, he couldn't say so."

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Jeff Flake

Flake Joins GOP Frosh Fray, Won't Vote for Next CR

Susan Crabtree | March 14, 2011, 6:35PM

Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ)

Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), a longtime fiscal conservative who is running for Senate, is closing ranks with his fellow Tea Party loyalists in rejecting the latest stop-gap spending measure crafted to avoid a government shutdown and which has the backing of the House GOP leadership.

"How are we ever supposed to tackle the grave fiscal challenges before us like the debt ceiling, the debt, and the FY2012 budget when we just keep punting on FY2011 spending?" Flake said in release Monday afternoon.

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Barack Obama

Obama: U.S. 'Slowly Tightening The Noose' Around Qaddafi

Susan Crabtree | March 11, 2011, 3:25PM

President Barack Obama

President Obama says he is "absolutely" concerned about Libyan Leader Muammar Qaddafi prevailing against opposition rebels but said the U.S. and its allies are "slowly tightening the noose" around him in an effort to push the dictator from power.

"I've not taken any options off the table at this point," Obama said in Friday press conference. "...We've moved as swiftly as any international coalition has ever moved to take sanctions...I have not foreclosed any options."

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Budget

Senior Democratic Senators To Obama: Please Engage On Budget Talks

Susan Crabtree | March 9, 2011, 8:18AM

Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)

Senior Democratic senators are practically begging and pleading for President Obama to roll up his sleeves and engage with Republicans on budget negotiations.

Distracted by world events and crisscrossing the country talking about job creation, President Obama these Democrats say is shrinking from the heavy lifting required to leverage the full weight of the White House to sell smaller spending cuts to the American people and gain an edge in the negotiations with Republicans in Congress.

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MoveOn

MoveOn Calls on Activists to Take Wisconsin Message to Congress

Susan Crabtree | February 22, 2011, 6:32PM

United States Capitol

MoveOn.org would like to tap into the fervor on display in Wisconsin to push back against House Republican spending cuts and replicate at least a taste of the Madison unrest on the national level.

In an e-mail to members, MoveOn leaders encouraged activists to show up at the offices of their member of Congress on Thursday at noon to rally against GOP spending cuts and any burgeoning national attempts to put the squeeze on unions and worker's collective bargaining rights.

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David Obey

Obey: Wisconsin Gov. Walker Is Channeling Mubarak

Susan Crabtree | February 17, 2011, 4:23PM

Fmr. Rep. David Obey (D-WI)

As Democratic legislators flee the Wisconsin state capitol in protest of Republican Gov. Scott Walker's proposed budget and its limits on bargaining powers for public employee unions, one of Wisconsin's most prominent progressive leaders is coming out swinging.

Former Rep. David Obey (D-WI), a 41-year veteran of the House, the former chairman of the Appropriations Committee and an icon in Wisconsin politics, assailed Gov. Scott Walker for engaging in "political thuggery" and accused him of channeling toppled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak before his fall.

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Barack Obama

Obama Threatens To Veto House GOP's Spending Bill

Susan Crabtree | February 15, 2011, 5:03PM

President Barack Obama

President Barack Obama isn't waiting for Senate Democrats to reject House Republicans' proposed $61 billion in spending cuts for this year's government operations.

Even before the bill passed the House, as expected later this week, Obama fired a shot across Congress' bow and threatened to veto the spending bill that would keep the government running after March 4.

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Roadmap for America's Future

Republicans To Put Entitlements On The Chopping Block

Brian Beutler | February 15, 2011, 8:53AM

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL)

Monday, Reps. Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Paul Ryan (R-WI) were almost reading from two different scripts on entitlements. But in reality, Republicans seem to be coalescing around the same objective: to put Social Security and maybe even Medicare on the chopping block.

Cantor, the Majority Leader, announced at a pen and pad with reporters yesterday that the Republican budget would cut entitlements -- and Social Security in particular. Ryan, who chairs the Budget Committee, wouldn't commit to it.

But Ryan isn't exactly afraid of proposing controversial entitlement reforms.

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Hal Rogers

Under Pressure From Conservative Members, GOP To Slash More Spending

Brian Beutler | February 10, 2011, 1:53PM

Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY)

After catching heat from rank and file conservative members for not proposing enough spending cuts, Republican leaders want a do-over.

House appropriators have delayed until at least Friday the introduction of new spending legislation, to cut deeper than they'd originally planned.

"After meeting with my subcommittee Chairs, we have determined that the [spending resolution] can and will reach a total of $100 billion in cuts compared to the President's request immediately -- fully meeting the goal outlined in the Republican 'Pledge to America' in one fell swoop," said Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) in a statement to reporters Thursday. "Our intent is to make deep but manageable cuts in nearly every area of government, leaving no stone unturned and allowing no agency or program to be held sacred. I have instructed my committee to include these deeper cuts, and we are continuing to work to complete this critical legislation."

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Iraq

Top Dem Says GOP Spending Cuts Will Screw Up Iraq Strategy

Brian Beutler | February 4, 2011, 11:46AM

Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI)

A House GOP plan to carve State Department spending out of the sacrosanct pool of "security" appropriations, and lump it in with "non-security" appropriations could upend the Obama administration's strategy in Iraq, says the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"I'm not sure the House folks [considered] it runs flat into our strategy in Iraq," Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) told me Thursday after an evening vote.

The House took its first step in executing the plan Thursday, when Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan introduced spending limits that would leave the State Department with $9.7 billion -- or 17 percent -- less than Obama requested.

The timing couldn't be worse.

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Spending

Democrats Say House-Proposed Spending Limits "Unworkable"

Brian Beutler | February 3, 2011, 2:00PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) with Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Charles Schumer (D-NY)

On Thursday, House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) introduced new limits on spending to fund the government through the end of September. The proposal itself falls a bit short of the GOP pledge to slash spending by $100 billion, on a prorated basis, this fiscal year. But already Senate Democrats are warning Republicans that they'd better willing to negotiate toward the center, or they'll risk a government shutdown.

Indeed, top Democrats addressed reporters about the GOP proposal Thursday afternoon. They criticized the GOP's approach, and its leadership, for not taking a government shutdown off the table. They even brought Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) old economic adviser -- and Moody's chief economist -- Mark Zandi to the podium to buttress their case: a government shutdown would harm the economy, spending should not be cut dramatically right now, and the standoff should be resolved quickly.

"The chairman of the [House] Budget Committee today -- today -- sent us something more draconian than we originally anticipated," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said. He called Ryan's plan "unworkable."

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Debt Ceiling

'Pay China First' -- Republicans' Wild Plan To Avoid U.S. Debt Default

Brian Beutler | January 31, 2011, 9:30AM

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA)

New Republican legislation in the House and Senate would force the U.S. government to reroute huge amounts of money to China and other creditors in the event that Congress fails to raise its debt ceiling.

"I intend to introduce legislation that would require the Treasury to make interest payments on our debt its first priority in the event that the debt ceiling is not raised," Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) wrote in a Friday Wall Street Journal op-ed.

If passed, Toomey's plan would require the government to cut large checks to foreign countries, and major financial institutions, before paying off its obligations to Social Security beneficiaries and other citizens owed money by the Treasury -- that is, if the U.S. hits its debt ceiling. Republican leaders insist they will raise the country's debt limit before this happens. But first, they're going to try to force Democrats to accept large spending cuts, using their control over the debt limit as leverage. That means gridlock, and the threat that they'll come up short.

That's where Toomey's idea supposedly comes in. And yet, according to the Treasury Department, his plan wouldn't actually avoid a default, or its catastrophic consequences.

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Chris Van Hollen

Current Budget Chair Endorses Van Hollen To Take Top Slot Next Year

Brian Beutler | November 10, 2010, 6:30PM

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD).

The current House Budget Committee Chairman -- Rep. John Spratt (D-SC), who lost his re-election bid last week -- has endorsed Chris Van Hollen to take over as the top Democrat on the panel next year.

"I am writing to state my enthusiastic support for Chris Van Hollen as Ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee in the 112th Congress," Spratt wrote in a letter to colleagues today. "Through his work in the Democratic leadership and on the Ways and Means Committee, Chris has demonstrated his dedication to our values as well as his knowledge of the issues.

Van Hollen appears to have a clear path to becoming the ranking member on the committee. Yesterday, the committee's second highest-ranking Democrat, Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-PA) backed his candidacy, and a source close to him tells me he has thusfar rounded up the support of 17 of the 19, returning Democrats on the panel, and counting.

You can read the entire letter below the fold.

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Chris Van Hollen

Chris Van Hollen Vies For Top Spot On Budget Committee

Brian Beutler | November 9, 2010, 6:33PM

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD).

A source close to outgoing DCCC chairman Chris Van Hollen confirms that the Maryland Democrat is angling to be the party's top budget guy in the House when they assume the minority in January. He would replace current chairman John Spratt, who was defeated in last week's midterm elections.

Van Hollen is not currently a member of the Budget Committee, but did deal with these issues when he was a member of the Maryland General Assembly. He was given a leadership title at the beginning of the 111th Congress, but will likely be squeezed out when Democrats lose the Speakership.

If he wins, Van Hollen would leapfrog the Budget Committee's Vice Chair Allyson Schwartz (D-PA) for the top slot. As ranking member he'd spar with incoming Budget Chairman Paul Ryan -- a conservative but, like Van Hollen, not known for his pyrotechnics behind the dais.

Doug Elmendorf

CBO Chief: High Income Tax Cuts Slow Income Growth

Brian Beutler | September 28, 2010, 3:38PM

Intentionally or not (but probably intentionally), Senate Budget Committee chairman Kent Conrad has mastered the art of deploying CBO chief Doug Elmendorf to ostensibly make the case for Conrad's policy preferences, under oath.

Today, Elmendorf made two key points before Conrad's panel: one will be used by Republicans to argue for a permanent extension of the Bush tax cuts; and the other will be used by Democrats to argue for letting Bush's high-income cuts expired. Both will, of course, bolster Conrad's argument for his own compromise position on tax cuts.

Here, in Elmendorf's words, is what will surely be the Republican talking point:

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