Archive for Budget
Morning Action: Obama and the Left Desperate to Make Obamacare Work
OBAMACARE. In an effort to fix a bad law, lawmakers created a bill aimed at shifting funds from one part of Obamacare, the Prevention and Public Health Fund, to a the high-risk insurance pool. Fortunately, this bill was defeated, thanks largely to conservative pressure. However, the bill may yet return (sub. req’d): Megan Whittemore, a [...]
Morning Action: No, Let’s Not Forget Benghazi
BUDGET. Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) is proposing two budget gimmicks to spend $85 billion more in 2013 than allowed under sequestration. Heritage outlines the gimmicks: 1. Phantom War Savings Reid’s proposal (S. 788) suggests placing caps on war-related spending for Iraq and Afghanistan, referred to as Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO), a category otherwise exempted from the [...]
Morning Action: The Immigration Debate Marches On
GUNS. Yesterday, the Senate approved a procedural motion that will allow debate on the Democrat gun bill to begin. Sixty votes were required, and the motion garnered 68 in total, including the support of 16 Republican senators, Sens. Lamar Alexander (TN), Kelly Ayotte (NH), Richard Burr (NC), Saxby Chambliss (GA), Tom Coburn (OK), Susan Collins [...]
Morning Action: Disobey the Hastert Rule, We Pick Up the Tab
GUNS. Today at 11 am, the gun legislation a handful of Senators have been working on will be revealed, but in Washington, getting things done does not equal making things better: Sens. Joe Manchin (D., W. Va.) and Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) hope to announce a deal Wednesday and are just working out legislative language, [...]
Austerity Cuts vs. Real Entitlement Reform
In his latest attempt to cajole Republicans into raising taxes, Obama has called for a budget plan that makes some cuts to Medicare providers and subjects Social Security payments to the chained CPI. John Boehner was correct to reject this ploy of holding entitlement savings hostage for tax increases. However, he has come close to [...]
Morning Action: We’re All In On Guns
HAFA. MSNBC’s Chuck Todd says Senators who value their score will oppose the Senate gun bill because of Heritage Action’s pledge to key vote. SOCIAL SECURITY. According to a tweet by Alexander Mooney, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will join in a protest against President Obama’s proposed social security benefit changes. GUNS. President Obama is [...]
Restoring A Normal Budget Process
Normally people aren’t applauded for doing what they ought to do, i.e. fulfilling basic expectations. Instead, they are applauded when they fulfill their requirements excellently, or even more so, when they surpass expectations. Not so for the United States Congress in 2013. For years, we have had to tolerate the frequent abdication by lawmakers, especially [...]
Morning Action: Rest in Peace, Lady Thatcher
IRON LADY. Rest in peace, Lady Thatcher. Must watch video via Heritage: GUNS. Harry Reid is likely to delay work on a sweeping gun bill to allow Senators Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) to work out details of a compromise: If Manchin succeeds in striking a deal, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) plans [...]
VOTE-A-RAMA AND BUDGET SCORING
In the wee hours on Saturday morning during vote-a-rama, the Senate voted on the Portman amendment #154 to the Senate Democrat Budget, and it was agreed to by a vote of 51-48. The amendment would require the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to include macroeconomic feedback scoring of tax legislation. As Congress considers a massive overhaul [...]
Morning Action: This Big News This Week Is Marriage
MARRIAGE. This week, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Tuesday and Wednesday on an issue that has profound implications for society as they may or may not contend that the Constitution has within it a right for same-sex couples to marry: On Tuesday, the court will hear arguments in a challenge to California’s ban [...]
