Who to blame for a U.S. government shutdown?
Never mind that it hasn’t happened yet. Lawmakers want to make sure everyone knows who is responsible if it does.
If the U.S. Congress deadlocks over spending for the rest of this fiscal year and forces a shutdown of government services when the money runs out on March 4, who will be to blame?
Democrats and Republicans may not agree on much, but they do agree on one thing – if the government shuts down it will be the other party’s fault.
The two sides have been going back and forth on the possibility of a government shut down for weeks. House Speaker John Boehner opened up a fresh round of the blame game on Thursday.
“We have some Democrats here on Capitol Hill threatening to shut down the government rather than to cut spending and to follow the will of the American people,” Boehner said at a news conference.
The government has been running on a series of short-term “continuing resolutions” that keep spending mostly at last year’s levels and Boehner said he would not agree to another short-term spending plan without spending cuts.
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid quickly responded to Boehner’s comments and put the ball back in the Republican court.
from Summit Notebook:
Senator Lamar Alexander tickles the ivories
In the run up to the Nov. 2 mid-term election, senior Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander has more to worry about than just the results of the vote.
Just three days before the election, Alexander has a date on center stage to play the piano with the Jackson Symphony in Jackson, Tennessee.
"I try to keep a balanced life," the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference told the Reuters Washington Summit. "I even get to play the piano some, though not as much as I'd like to."
But on Oct. 30, the classically-trained senator will perform at a concert in Jackson, which he joked "is not Carnegie Hall."
"I used to do that when I was governor," he said. "It's been 26 years since I've performed with the Jackson Symphony and that may say something about what they thought of their last experience. Everyone who remembers it is gone."
Alexander will be playing some Mozart, Chopin and a medley of gospel songs written for him to perform with orchestras and symphonies.
The senior senator from Tennessee, who ran an unsuccessful presidential bid in 1996, even uses music analogies to talk about politics. When speaking about how to get rid of earmarks he said "If someone's singing out of tune in the Grand Ole Opry, the cure for that is not to cancel the Opry -- you cancel the act. So I think that's how we should deal with earmarks -- get rid of the bad ones."
“Heroism fatigue”: another hurdle for U.S. climate change action?
Could “heroism fatigue” be yet another bump in the road for any U.S. law to curb climate change? And what is “heroism fatigue” anyway?
To Paul Bledsoe of the bipartisan National Commission on Energy Policy, heroism fatigue is what happens when the Congress has spent most of the year doing something heroic, like trying to hammer out an agreement on healthcare reform, when what lawmakers might rather be doing is naming a new post office. Following one big, gnarly piece of legislation with another — like a bill to limit climate-warming carbon dioxide — can seem daunting.
“Especially Democrats want to get back to some meat-and-potatoes job-creation stuff,” Bledsoe says. “They’re going to need a little time after healthcare.”
Congressional down-time doesn’t sound like part of the Obama administration’s game plan on climate and energy. Energy Secretary Stephen Chu said last week that the president expects a comprehensive bill on this in 2010. President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech to Congress could be a good barometer of how much he wants this, as my colleague Richard Cowan wrote. The speech has yet to be scheduled, but is expected within the next few weeks.
Bledsoe, whose organization looks for consensus on such complex issues as climate change, said agreement on a climate bill is possible. “An energy bill with robust climate provisions that focuses on job creation seems a bill that could gain bipartisan support in this economic environment.” By contrast, a bill styled as mainly combating climate change with energy issues added in “could have a hard time with unemployment at 10 percent,” Bledsoe said.
To get a law to Obama’s desk, there’s going to have to be a “deliberate conscious attempt at reaching out to moderates of both parties,” Bledsoe said.
It’s early days on this, so let the handicapping begin! What’s your best estimate of when or if Congress can craft a workable measure to combat climate change? This year? If so, when?
The average citizen in the United States is getting angry. There have been far too many lies – the Himalaya’s Glaciers will be gone by 2035, Greenland ice will be metled in 20 years. Winters without cold… Yes, no more cold in winter. Officials promise billions and the UN wants trillions. The advocates who demand immediate action get proved wrong and again and the UN says it’s only one mistake.
Cap and Trade is nonsense. The US people don’t owe the world anything. The more advocates howl about the end of the world the more they become a joke. The only people who benefit by global warming are the super rich who are using the issue to move more industries to the Third World, where they can pay slave wages, no health benefits and where there are no real pollution control laws or enforcement.
The First Draft: Can he make a deal?
President Barack Obama hits the road again today to stump for healthcare reform.
In a throwback to the presidential campaign, he will hold town-hall style meetings at a high school in Raleigh, North Carolina and at a supermarket in Bristol, Virginia.
Obama will try to explain and drum up support for his top legislative priority — an overhaul of the healthcare system. He wants to end discrimination and close coverage gaps that currently exist in the current health insurance system.
The president had originally wanted to see a deal before lawmakers left for their month-long August recess but that is appearing unlikely. Members of the Senate Finance Committee, who are working on the financial details of a proposed deal, have made some progress and are hopeful of reaching agreement soon.
On the business front one of the biggest stories out today is that Microsoft and Yahoo reached a deal on a Web search partnership that aims to compete with market leader Google. Yahoo dropped in pre-market trading but what will happen to Microsoft and Google shares?
And for your morning laugh — check out the perils of relying on GPS when you misspell the name of the town you’re aiming for.
there is fundamental awareness of the abuses and inherent incompetence of any government run service.the state of the finances and competitiveness of the post office which is loosing billions of dollars, endorses these facts.sadly there is limited enthusiasm to try to reverse the fortunes of the services particularly when there is a close connection with the respective unions and a democratic government.this is what a obama has got to over come to convince the average american,that a state run health service will not join the other government dinosaurs.the stark reality that the democratic congress adds to this negativity as they continue to hit the headlines with “rumours”of unethical conduct with makes the process even harder.i am personally not a supporter of obama,s socialist agenda,but i try to separate that from my opinion of obama as a person,but reading some of the posts recently i think because of the lefts hatred of bush and palin it has caused a back lash for obama,and because of over exposure and his repeated smoke screen attempts to try and make the government service attractive, he is becoming less creditable.
What is the cost of staving off climate change?
Republicans in the U.S. Congress say they know how much it is going to cost to save the world from the predicted ravages of climate change. But others say their math is way off. “It would cost every family as much as $3,100 a year in additional energy costs and will drive millions of good-paying American jobs overseas,” warned House of Representatives Republican leader John Boehner in response to House Democrats unveiling their climate-change bill on Tuesday. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell offered the same figure. “According to some estimates, this tax could cost every American household up to $3,100 a year just for doing the same things people have always done, like turning on the lights and doing laundry.” There’s a problem, though. The Republicans cite a Massachusetts Institute of Technology study as the basis for their cost estimate. But a lead author of that study complained in a letter to Boehner on Wednesday that the calculation is way off. John Reilly, an economist at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, said the average annual cost to U.S. families for controlling emissions of carbon and other harmful greenhouse gases is actually $340. In a telephone interview with Reuters, Reilly said updates to his 2007 study that take into account some higher costs could nudge the figure up to around $440 per household per year. Republicans say they simply took a $366 billion revenue estimate from a climate change bill that sputtered in Congress last year and divided by the number of U.S. households to come up with $3,100. The thinking is that the revenues would be collected in pollution permits to industries, a cost that likely could be passed on to consumers. “Taking that number and saying that is the cost is just wrong,” Reilly said, adding that many other calculations, including government rebates to consumers, have to be factored in. Don Stewart, a spokesman for McConnell, said there are no assurances yet that consumers would get rebates, which the MIT study assumed, and thus the $3,100 figure is accurate and possibly even higher. “If they (Democrats) change their bill to give money back to consumers, the numbers on cost would change (downward),” Stewart said. Eben Burnham-Snyder, a spokesman for Representative Edward Markey, one of Congress’ leading advocates of climate control legislation, saw other possibilities. If a range of energy initiatives in coming legislation is factored in — electric vehicles, improved transmission and other alternative energy steps — he said that would “significantly cut down the costs and some say would save people money on energy bills.”
For more Reuters political news, click here
Photo credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque (Demonstrators for clean energy hold a rally on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 2)
To those who don’t want the government running alternative power and would rather leave it to private industry, I would only remind you of what a great job private industry has done getting us into this mess: private auto and oil companies pushed gas guzzling cars on the public and helped kill public transportation, thus worsening the problem. In other areas, private industry has been equally “successful”: private banks, private mortgage companies, private health insurance companies, provate drug companies–they have all been a disaster for this country, and now some of you want private companies to fix global warming? How many times does a plan have to fail before the dumbest among us finally see the light–and why do we have to wait for them to see it before we make needed changes?
Obama wins bipartisan support in often divided U.S. House
WASHINGTON – Democratic President Barack Obama finally won broad bipartisan support on Wednesday in the often bitterly divided U.S. House of Representatives. All it took was a call for Americans to help each other — and the memory of Sept. 11. On a 321-105 vote, the House passed and sent on to the Senate an Obama-backed bill that seeks to expand volunteerism. The proposed GIVE Act — Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education — would also urge Americans to recognize Sept. 11 as a national day of service as well as remembrance. “Establishing 9/11 as a national day of service would ensure that the lives of those lost are forever remembered,” said David Paine of MyGoodDeed.org, a nonprofit created by family members of 9/11 victims. House Republicans have opposed a number of the president’s initiatives including his $787 billion stimulus package, but many rallied in support of this one. The measure comes in response to Obama’s call to Congress last month to pass a bill that will provide Americans with more chances to serve their communities. The House-passed bill would create volunteer opportunities for Americans ranging from school children and retirees to military veterans. “President Obama has renewed the spirit of a practice in our country that is as old as the union itself — the call to public service,” said Democratic Representative Carolyn McCarthy, sponsor of the bill.
Click here for more Reuters political coverage.
- Photo credit: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst (Obama gives his primetime address to a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives in February)
Hay irfan who was the guy this week that wanted to take way disabled veterns medical care to save a few bucks so he could give it to Acorn. Oh that right he is not on the left is he. Good luck Comrad
Thinking about the U.S. economy? It helps to be a stool maker
WASHINGTON – Trying to figure out where the Obama team is going on the economy? It probably helps to be a stool maker. The $825 billion stimulus bill moving through Congress “is just one leg in a multi-legged stool,” the president said during a visit to Congress this week. Reporters have been trying ever since to figure out exactly how many legs are on the economic recovery stool. “Is it a three-legged or a four-legged stool?” one reporter asked White House spokesman Robert Gibbs during a briefing Thursday. And, “What are those legs specifically?” “I think roughly you have, whether you’re talking about stools or pillars or what have you, three main areas,” Gibbs said. “You have a Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, which is moving through Congress. You have a financial stability package. And you have financial re-regulation.” “I don’t know that it’s tremendously pertinent to get caught up in whether there are three stools, three legs on this stool or four, or rungs, or what have you,” he said. “I think the American people understand that we have to deal with … each of these in order to move the economy forward.” Then Gibbs added a complication: ”I’m not sure … which leg housing is.” But he sought to reassure the American people. “You may not understand which leg of the stool you’re on, but you understand it’s a problem that has to be dealt with.” What about the “international leg of the stool that was discussed by the G20 here … people say that it’s not moving anywhere,” asked a reporter, referring to a group of industrialized and major developing nations. Gibbs said more detail on the international leg would be forthcoming as the G20 meeting in London in April draws near. Reporters were not entirely satisfied with the level of detail coming from the White House spokesman. “I’m wondering,” said one, “when you’re going to show us a little more leg.” For more Reuters political news, please click here.
Photo credit: Reuters/Jim Young (Gibbs at a briefing Tuesday)
tc ,friday,the flexibility of gibbs and the press core are unbelievably.totally changed atmosphere.it was more than a sitting around the camp fire deal. no” cum by are”boy scouts( not politically correct)”but just a lovely warm serene atmosphere.one of the admirers asked gibbs if obama ever got mad, and gibbs assured him .”no but he is like a father figure at the mall’,”he waits till he gets home”i am sure i heard some swoons. incidentally the old chick was still sitting there totally confused.
It’s official – Obama is the next U.S. president
It’s official. Barack Obama will be the next president of the United States.
The Senate and House of Representatives just concluded a joint session in which the electoral college vote results of the Nov. 4 election were counted and certified with great fanfare.
Vice President Dick Cheney, who serves as president of the Senate, presided over the meeting and read the official results – Obama of Illinois received 365 of the 538 electoral votes for president and Sen. John McCain of Arizona received 173. Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware received 365 electoral votes for the office of vice president while Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska received 173 votes, Cheney said.
With the electoral votes duly recorded by Congress, Obama will be free to take the oath of office on Jan. 20, on the west front of the Capitol.
For more Reuters political news, click here.
Photo credit: Reuters/Joshua Roberts (Ballots from the Electoral College are carried into the House Chamber for joint session of Congress/ Vice President Cheny hands Rep. Robert Brady of Pennsylvania vote results from Ohio.)
The First Draft: Tuesday, Jan. 6
On a dark and drippy Washington morning, President-elect Barack Obama meets with his economic advisers to discuss the 2010 budget.
At the White House, President George W. Bush will create the biggest protected marine area on the planet, a trio of national monuments in the Pacific.
The new U.S. Congress convenes today, with clouds hanging over two Democrats: Roland Burris of Illinois and Al Franken of Minnesota.
Burris arrived in the Washington area Monday, vowing to take Obama’s vacant Senate seat. But because he was appointed by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Senate Democrats have said they plan to keep Burris out, at least for now — though a compromise is possible. Blagojevich has been charged with having earlier tried to sell Obama’s seat.
Franken, a former stand-up comic and comedy writer, was declared the winner in a Senate contest against Republican Norm Coleman after a recount showed Franken with a 225-vote majority. Coleman has promised a court challenge of those results.
Pelosi to colleagues: Happy New Year. Now get ready to work
WASHINGTON – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a “Happy New Year” message to colleagues: be ready for action when the new U.S. Congress convenes next week. “The 111th Congress will hit the ground running … with an ambitious schedule that corresponds with the opportunities and challenges that we face as a country,” Pelosi wrote Wednesday in an open letter to her “Democratic colleagues.” “The opening days of the Congress will be intense,” Pelosi added. “I know that we will be ready.” The House and Senate will convene on Tuesday, Jan. 6 — 14 days before Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th U.S. president. It will mark the first time in 14 years that Democrats have controlled both Congress and the White House. In the November elections, Democrats expanded their majorities in the House and Senate with a stack of campaign promises. They included ones to: withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq and redeploy many of them to Afghanistan; expand health care coverage; move the U.S. toward energy independence; curb global warming and bolster regulation of the troubled financial industry. Among the first measures to be considered will likely be one that could total $775 billion or more in spending and tax cuts to stimulate the economy and stem a deepening recession. In her letter, Pelosi wrote that the Democratic Steering Committee, which helps set party policy, will hold a hearing Wednesday on the need for an economic recovery plan. Pelosi added that by the time Obama takes office in two weeks, she expects the House to consider a number of bills, including one to pump new life into the economy. She ended her “Happy New Year!” letter with a holiday note: “Best wishes to you and your family.”
For more Reuters political coverage, please click here.
Photo credit: Reuters/Yuri Gripas (Pelosi at a news conference Dec. 2)
Neither Pelosi or Reid have improved anything for us. Two years ago we heard alot…but have not seen improvement other than lots of spending.
The Republican’s budget is a joke. It isn’t about cutting spending, reducing the deficits or tackling the debt. It’s about gutting the social infrastructure of the country that helps lower and middle income Americans, about keeping them where they are at economically. Even if they are successful in pushing all these cuts through, they won’t amount to a single drop in terms of federal spending, yet will negatively affect millions of Americans. The Democrats will not be to blame, either.