No Budget, No Pay Legislation Passes U.S. House
Today in Washington, D.C. - Jan 23, 2013
Today the House passed the No Budget, No Pay legislation with bi-partisan support. The bill, H.R. 325 passed 285-144 with the stated purpose "To ensure the complete and timely payment of the obligations of the United States Government until May 19, 2013. The bill also requires the House and Senate each to pass a budget, and Member pay will be withheld9in escrow) if they fail. The principle is simple: no budget, no pay. It's time for the Senate to act. It has been almost four years since the Democratic-controlled Senate passed a budget, while our national debt has skyrocketed by over $5 trillion.
Prior to its passage. Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) went to the House floor and urged support for the bill which will force Senate Democrats to finally pass a budget, which they have refused to do in almost four years. He and others are putting their own money / salaries at risk. Speaker Boehner reiterated that the No Budget, No Pay Act is just a first step toward a long-term plan that balances the budget over the next 10 years, and addresses the fiscal crisis that threatens our economy and future generations.
Speaker Boehner’s said,“You know, the premise here is pretty simple. It says that there should be no long-term increase in the debt limit until there’s a long-term plan to deal with the fiscal crisis that faces our country. Every hardworking taxpayer in America knows that they have to do a budget. Every hardworking taxpayer understands that you can’t continue to spend money that you don’t have.
“We are committed to continue to do a budget every year. And if you think about this, it’s not just that we’ve done a budget the last two years that addresses our fiscal crisis, even when the Democrats had control in the two years before that, you all did a budget. And yet for four years – nearly four years – the United States Senate has not done a budget.
“And so this bill before us is real simple. It says, ‘Congress, if you don’t do a budget you don’t get paid.’ I have no doubt that we’re going to do our work. We’re committed to doing a budget and a ten-year plan to solve our budget crisis and to balance our budget. And frankly, I think it’s time for the Senate, and the White House, to produce a budget that will balance over the next 10 years.
“You know, most Americans would look up and go, ‘Wait a minute, why do they need 10 years to balance the budget?’ But we know with baby boomers retiring and the fact that it wasn’t prepared for – it’s going to take a little more time. But my goodness, we ought to be able to balance the budget in the next 10 years.
“Balancing the budget over the next 10 years means that we save the future for our kids and our grandkids. It also means that we strengthen programs like Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid that can’t continue to exist in their current form without some kind of controls. It’s time for Congress to get serious about this and this is the first step in an effort to bring real fiscal responsibility to Washington. It’s real simple: no budget, no pay.”
The Senate the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on the attacks in Benghazi, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testifying. Not impressed by Sec. Clinton's presentations and comments. However, Clinton made it very clear that she did not pick Ambassador Rice to go on the networks and to blame the attacks on a video. She called it a terrorist attack from the beginning.
The Senate is in session, however,Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has indicated he expects to take up the bill sent from the House making supplemental appropriations for Hurricane Sandy disaster relief later in the week. Why is Reid dragging his feet? Senate Democrat leadership has done everything but move quickly to aid in funding relief for the victims of Hurricane Sandy.
In a speech on the Senate floor this morning, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell once again stressed that the key to the country’s debt crisis is getting unsustainable spending under control. “[T]he President spent nearly his entire first term arguing that we needed to tax the so-called ‘rich’ to solve our fiscal woes. He harangued Congress about it. He argued for it in rallies and debates. He threatened to push us over the cliff if he didn’t get his way. . . . Given how much time he devoted to that one topic, you’d think his tax hike would have closed the deficit, eliminated the entire national debt, and left us with extra cash to spare. . . . It doesn’t even come close to solving the problem. . . .
"[H]ere’s the reality the President needs to face, and quickly: there is no realistic way to raise taxes high enough to even begin to address this problem. That’s why Republicans are saying that we need to start controlling spending now. And that’s why, if the President wants to do something good right now, he should put aside the liberal wish-list, put aside the character attacks, and join us in this great task. What the President laid out Monday was the liberal dream. What I’ve just presented – what this chart shows – is the reality.”
It’s long past time for Democrats to acknowledge that reality and begin to control out unsustainable spending that has resulted in four straight years of deficits greater than $1 trillion. In an editorial, USA Today praises a bill House Republicans are putting forward today because it “puts the pressure back where it belongs: on the White House and the Democrat-controlled Senate to control spending.” The paper points out that President Obama now “has one less excuse for not working harder to defuse the time bomb of unsustainable spending on entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security.” <USA Today editors conclude, “[I]t is up to Obama and the Democrats to demonstrate some flexibility. Debt-ceiling fight or no, the economy cannot flourish with trillion dollar deficits and ever increasing portions of the nation's resources being directed into health care and retirement.”
As Leader McConnell explained, “[T]he President has a choice. He can paint himself as a warrior of the left and charge into battle with failed ideas we’ve already tried before. He can demean and blame the opposition for his own failure to lead. He can indulge his supporters in a bitter, never-ending campaign that will only divide our country further. Or, he can take the responsible road. He can help his base come to terms with mathematical realities. He can reach out to leaders in both parties and negotiate in good faith. . . . [W]e can’t waste any more time denying the reality that’s staring each of us in the face.”
Tags: Washington, D.C., House, no budget, no pay, Senate, federal spending, Senate Democrats dealy Sandy bill To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Today the House passed the No Budget, No Pay legislation with bi-partisan support. The bill, H.R. 325 passed 285-144 with the stated purpose "To ensure the complete and timely payment of the obligations of the United States Government until May 19, 2013. The bill also requires the House and Senate each to pass a budget, and Member pay will be withheld9in escrow) if they fail. The principle is simple: no budget, no pay. It's time for the Senate to act. It has been almost four years since the Democratic-controlled Senate passed a budget, while our national debt has skyrocketed by over $5 trillion.
Prior to its passage. Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) went to the House floor and urged support for the bill which will force Senate Democrats to finally pass a budget, which they have refused to do in almost four years. He and others are putting their own money / salaries at risk. Speaker Boehner reiterated that the No Budget, No Pay Act is just a first step toward a long-term plan that balances the budget over the next 10 years, and addresses the fiscal crisis that threatens our economy and future generations.
Speaker Boehner’s said,“You know, the premise here is pretty simple. It says that there should be no long-term increase in the debt limit until there’s a long-term plan to deal with the fiscal crisis that faces our country. Every hardworking taxpayer in America knows that they have to do a budget. Every hardworking taxpayer understands that you can’t continue to spend money that you don’t have.
“We are committed to continue to do a budget every year. And if you think about this, it’s not just that we’ve done a budget the last two years that addresses our fiscal crisis, even when the Democrats had control in the two years before that, you all did a budget. And yet for four years – nearly four years – the United States Senate has not done a budget.
“And so this bill before us is real simple. It says, ‘Congress, if you don’t do a budget you don’t get paid.’ I have no doubt that we’re going to do our work. We’re committed to doing a budget and a ten-year plan to solve our budget crisis and to balance our budget. And frankly, I think it’s time for the Senate, and the White House, to produce a budget that will balance over the next 10 years.
“You know, most Americans would look up and go, ‘Wait a minute, why do they need 10 years to balance the budget?’ But we know with baby boomers retiring and the fact that it wasn’t prepared for – it’s going to take a little more time. But my goodness, we ought to be able to balance the budget in the next 10 years.
“Balancing the budget over the next 10 years means that we save the future for our kids and our grandkids. It also means that we strengthen programs like Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid that can’t continue to exist in their current form without some kind of controls. It’s time for Congress to get serious about this and this is the first step in an effort to bring real fiscal responsibility to Washington. It’s real simple: no budget, no pay.”
The Senate is in session, however,Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has indicated he expects to take up the bill sent from the House making supplemental appropriations for Hurricane Sandy disaster relief later in the week. Why is Reid dragging his feet? Senate Democrat leadership has done everything but move quickly to aid in funding relief for the victims of Hurricane Sandy.
In a speech on the Senate floor this morning, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell once again stressed that the key to the country’s debt crisis is getting unsustainable spending under control. “[T]he President spent nearly his entire first term arguing that we needed to tax the so-called ‘rich’ to solve our fiscal woes. He harangued Congress about it. He argued for it in rallies and debates. He threatened to push us over the cliff if he didn’t get his way. . . . Given how much time he devoted to that one topic, you’d think his tax hike would have closed the deficit, eliminated the entire national debt, and left us with extra cash to spare. . . . It doesn’t even come close to solving the problem. . . .
"[H]ere’s the reality the President needs to face, and quickly: there is no realistic way to raise taxes high enough to even begin to address this problem. That’s why Republicans are saying that we need to start controlling spending now. And that’s why, if the President wants to do something good right now, he should put aside the liberal wish-list, put aside the character attacks, and join us in this great task. What the President laid out Monday was the liberal dream. What I’ve just presented – what this chart shows – is the reality.”
It’s long past time for Democrats to acknowledge that reality and begin to control out unsustainable spending that has resulted in four straight years of deficits greater than $1 trillion. In an editorial, USA Today praises a bill House Republicans are putting forward today because it “puts the pressure back where it belongs: on the White House and the Democrat-controlled Senate to control spending.” The paper points out that President Obama now “has one less excuse for not working harder to defuse the time bomb of unsustainable spending on entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security.” <USA Today editors conclude, “[I]t is up to Obama and the Democrats to demonstrate some flexibility. Debt-ceiling fight or no, the economy cannot flourish with trillion dollar deficits and ever increasing portions of the nation's resources being directed into health care and retirement.”
As Leader McConnell explained, “[T]he President has a choice. He can paint himself as a warrior of the left and charge into battle with failed ideas we’ve already tried before. He can demean and blame the opposition for his own failure to lead. He can indulge his supporters in a bitter, never-ending campaign that will only divide our country further. Or, he can take the responsible road. He can help his base come to terms with mathematical realities. He can reach out to leaders in both parties and negotiate in good faith. . . . [W]e can’t waste any more time denying the reality that’s staring each of us in the face.”
Tags: Washington, D.C., House, no budget, no pay, Senate, federal spending, Senate Democrats dealy Sandy bill To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home