Michael Gaynor
Cutting through the official fog on Speaker Boehner's blog: he flinched
By Michael Gaynor
The Tea Party class of 2010 made Minority Leader Boehner Speaker Boehner because they realized that President Obama's "fundamental transformation" needed to be reversed, NOT slowed.
Speaker Boehner's Press Office quickly spun the settlement as best they could.
KEY FACTS: Bipartisan Agreement on Spending Cuts to Support American Job Creation Posted by Speaker Boehner Press Office on April 08, 2011
Just a short while ago, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) announced a bipartisan agreement on historic spending cuts — the largest cuts in American history — to help create a better environment for private sector job growth. Watch Boehner's announcement here:
You can read the joint statement by Speaker Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) here. Boehner said the agreement will "cut spending and keep our government open" — this agreement alone will cut hundreds of billions of dollars in spending over the next decade — and will "help create a better environment for job creators in our country."
Here are some key facts on the bipartisan agreement:
THE LARGEST SPENDING CUT IN AMERICAN HISTORY. The agreement will immediately cut $38.5 billion in federal spending — the largest spending cut in American history in terms of dollars — just months after President Obama asked Congress for a spending "freeze" that would mean zero cuts.
HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS IN SPENDING CUTS OVER THE NEXT DECADE. The agreement will cut hundreds of billions of dollars from the federal budget over the next decade — "real money," as the Wall Street Journal editorial board recently noted.
OFFICIALLY ENDS THE "STIMULUS" SPENDING BINGE. The agreement begins to reverse the "stimulus" spending binge that began in 2009 — signaling the official end of a period of unprecedented government intervention that former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan and other economists say hurt job creation in America by crowding out private investment.
SETS STAGE FOR TRILLIONS MORE IN SPENDING CUTS. Clears the way for congressional action on House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's budget — The Path to Prosperity — which cuts trillions in spending and offers a long-term blueprint for American job creation.
GUARANTEES SENATE VOTE ON REPEAL OF OBAMACARE. The agreement reached with Senate Democrats guarantees a Senate debate and vote on legislation that would repeal President Obama's government takeover of health care in its entirety. The House passed such legislation in January as part of the Pledge to America.
NEW TOOLS IN THE FIGHT TO REPEAL OBAMACARE. The agreement will generate new tools for the fight to repeal Obamacare by requiring numerous studies that will force the Obama Administration to reveal the true impact of the law's mandates, including a study of how individuals and families will see increased premiums as a result of certain Obamacare mandates; a full audit of all the waivers that the Obama Administration has given to firms and organizations — including unions — who can't meet the new annual coverage limits; a full audit of what's happening with the comparative effectiveness research funding that was in Obamacare and the president's failed "stimulus" spending bill; and a report on all of the contractors who have been hired to implement the law and the costs to taxpayers of such contracts.
DENIES ADDITIONAL FUNDING TO THE IRS. The Obama administration has sought increased federal funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) — money that could be used to hire additional agents to enforce the administration's agenda on a variety of issues. This increased funding is denied in the agreement.
GUARANTEES SENATE VOTE & DEBATE ON DE-FUNDING PLANNED PARENTHOOD. The agreement with Senate Democrats guarantees a Senate debate and vote on legislation that would end federal funding for Planned Parenthood.
BANS TAXPAYER FUNDING OF ABORTION IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. The agreement includes a complete ban on local and federal funding of abortion in the District of Columbia, applying the pro-life principles of the Hyde Amendment ("D.C. Hyde").
MANDATORY AUDITS OF THE NEW JOB-CRUSHING BUREAUCRACY SET UP UNDER DODD-FRANK. The agreement subjects the so-called Consumer Financial Protection Bureau created by the job-destroying Dodd-Frank law to yearly audits by both the private sector and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to monitor its impact on the economy, including its impact on jobs, by examining whether sound cost-benefit analyses are being used with rulemakings. BUT the first comments posted showed that putting lipstick on the pig had not fooled the commenters:
Where's the 100 billion?
There is one word for this 'agreement'....CAVED! Guaranteeing votes in the Senate on bills that are doomed to be voted down isn't a deal. And Audits with no TEETH are useless. So Caved on the first budget fight....what will you to do poor Paul Ryan?
As a conservative, Tea Party Member, and an avid follower of politics, I just want to let you know that this deal has upset a lot of people. Republicans made a major mistake by promising to cut $100 billion and then settling at $38 billion. You need to do better on the future battles or you will face primary challenges in 2012. The battle over the debt limit must result in MASSIVE (hundreds of billions to trillions) cuts before a single dollar increase. Finally, the 2012 budget must result in a serious change in the trajectory of our financial situation. Please don't let us down.
Wow the Republicans sold out again. At least Michelle Bachmann came on Fox and said it was way too little....wish more of the Repubs had her guts
I will celebrate if you cut my tax dollars from funding the killing of unborn babies. If you did not do this and my tax dollars continue to be spent on the genocide of unborn babies than I will join my fellow teapartiers in removing every last one of you from office.
Mr. Speaker, You have let the conservative movement down, you have caved in, you have shown no back-bone. You have surrendered all power Republicans won in the Nov election and you have given the Democrats and President Obama a huge victory. As a republican I will donate money to a possible tea-party challenger during the next primary. You're a RINO! No Regards
Thanks for caving in on social issues like always. NPR and Planned Parenthood needed defunding, and you failed your conservative base. You disgust me sir.
In a game of "chicken" with Team Obama, Speaker Boehner blinked.
The Tea Party class of 2010 made Minority Leader Boehner Speaker Boehner because they realized that President Obama's "fundamental transformation" needed to be reversed, NOT slowed.
In "Speaker Boehner, Condition Any Continuing Resolution or Debt Limit Increase on Expedited SCOTUS Review of Obamacare" (March 26, 2011) (http://www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=110326), I wrote: "Speaker Boehner, if you won't insist that Obamacare be defunded immediately as a condition to approving must-pass legislation, at least condition that must-pass legislation upon expedited SCOTUS review of Obamacare. Otherwise, you're part of the problem, not part of the solution."
Speaker Boehner chose to be part of the problem. BUT...President Obama thanked him for a "good job"!
© Michael Gaynor
April 9, 2011
The Tea Party class of 2010 made Minority Leader Boehner Speaker Boehner because they realized that President Obama's "fundamental transformation" needed to be reversed, NOT slowed.
Speaker Boehner's Press Office quickly spun the settlement as best they could.
KEY FACTS: Bipartisan Agreement on Spending Cuts to Support American Job Creation Posted by Speaker Boehner Press Office on April 08, 2011
Just a short while ago, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) announced a bipartisan agreement on historic spending cuts — the largest cuts in American history — to help create a better environment for private sector job growth. Watch Boehner's announcement here:
You can read the joint statement by Speaker Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) here. Boehner said the agreement will "cut spending and keep our government open" — this agreement alone will cut hundreds of billions of dollars in spending over the next decade — and will "help create a better environment for job creators in our country."
Here are some key facts on the bipartisan agreement:
THE LARGEST SPENDING CUT IN AMERICAN HISTORY. The agreement will immediately cut $38.5 billion in federal spending — the largest spending cut in American history in terms of dollars — just months after President Obama asked Congress for a spending "freeze" that would mean zero cuts.
HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS IN SPENDING CUTS OVER THE NEXT DECADE. The agreement will cut hundreds of billions of dollars from the federal budget over the next decade — "real money," as the Wall Street Journal editorial board recently noted.
OFFICIALLY ENDS THE "STIMULUS" SPENDING BINGE. The agreement begins to reverse the "stimulus" spending binge that began in 2009 — signaling the official end of a period of unprecedented government intervention that former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan and other economists say hurt job creation in America by crowding out private investment.
SETS STAGE FOR TRILLIONS MORE IN SPENDING CUTS. Clears the way for congressional action on House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's budget — The Path to Prosperity — which cuts trillions in spending and offers a long-term blueprint for American job creation.
GUARANTEES SENATE VOTE ON REPEAL OF OBAMACARE. The agreement reached with Senate Democrats guarantees a Senate debate and vote on legislation that would repeal President Obama's government takeover of health care in its entirety. The House passed such legislation in January as part of the Pledge to America.
NEW TOOLS IN THE FIGHT TO REPEAL OBAMACARE. The agreement will generate new tools for the fight to repeal Obamacare by requiring numerous studies that will force the Obama Administration to reveal the true impact of the law's mandates, including a study of how individuals and families will see increased premiums as a result of certain Obamacare mandates; a full audit of all the waivers that the Obama Administration has given to firms and organizations — including unions — who can't meet the new annual coverage limits; a full audit of what's happening with the comparative effectiveness research funding that was in Obamacare and the president's failed "stimulus" spending bill; and a report on all of the contractors who have been hired to implement the law and the costs to taxpayers of such contracts.
DENIES ADDITIONAL FUNDING TO THE IRS. The Obama administration has sought increased federal funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) — money that could be used to hire additional agents to enforce the administration's agenda on a variety of issues. This increased funding is denied in the agreement.
GUARANTEES SENATE VOTE & DEBATE ON DE-FUNDING PLANNED PARENTHOOD. The agreement with Senate Democrats guarantees a Senate debate and vote on legislation that would end federal funding for Planned Parenthood.
BANS TAXPAYER FUNDING OF ABORTION IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. The agreement includes a complete ban on local and federal funding of abortion in the District of Columbia, applying the pro-life principles of the Hyde Amendment ("D.C. Hyde").
MANDATORY AUDITS OF THE NEW JOB-CRUSHING BUREAUCRACY SET UP UNDER DODD-FRANK. The agreement subjects the so-called Consumer Financial Protection Bureau created by the job-destroying Dodd-Frank law to yearly audits by both the private sector and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to monitor its impact on the economy, including its impact on jobs, by examining whether sound cost-benefit analyses are being used with rulemakings. BUT the first comments posted showed that putting lipstick on the pig had not fooled the commenters:
Where's the 100 billion?
There is one word for this 'agreement'....CAVED! Guaranteeing votes in the Senate on bills that are doomed to be voted down isn't a deal. And Audits with no TEETH are useless. So Caved on the first budget fight....what will you to do poor Paul Ryan?
As a conservative, Tea Party Member, and an avid follower of politics, I just want to let you know that this deal has upset a lot of people. Republicans made a major mistake by promising to cut $100 billion and then settling at $38 billion. You need to do better on the future battles or you will face primary challenges in 2012. The battle over the debt limit must result in MASSIVE (hundreds of billions to trillions) cuts before a single dollar increase. Finally, the 2012 budget must result in a serious change in the trajectory of our financial situation. Please don't let us down.
Wow the Republicans sold out again. At least Michelle Bachmann came on Fox and said it was way too little....wish more of the Repubs had her guts
I will celebrate if you cut my tax dollars from funding the killing of unborn babies. If you did not do this and my tax dollars continue to be spent on the genocide of unborn babies than I will join my fellow teapartiers in removing every last one of you from office.
Mr. Speaker, You have let the conservative movement down, you have caved in, you have shown no back-bone. You have surrendered all power Republicans won in the Nov election and you have given the Democrats and President Obama a huge victory. As a republican I will donate money to a possible tea-party challenger during the next primary. You're a RINO! No Regards
Thanks for caving in on social issues like always. NPR and Planned Parenthood needed defunding, and you failed your conservative base. You disgust me sir.
In a game of "chicken" with Team Obama, Speaker Boehner blinked.
The Tea Party class of 2010 made Minority Leader Boehner Speaker Boehner because they realized that President Obama's "fundamental transformation" needed to be reversed, NOT slowed.
In "Speaker Boehner, Condition Any Continuing Resolution or Debt Limit Increase on Expedited SCOTUS Review of Obamacare" (March 26, 2011) (http://www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=110326), I wrote: "Speaker Boehner, if you won't insist that Obamacare be defunded immediately as a condition to approving must-pass legislation, at least condition that must-pass legislation upon expedited SCOTUS review of Obamacare. Otherwise, you're part of the problem, not part of the solution."
Speaker Boehner chose to be part of the problem. BUT...President Obama thanked him for a "good job"!
© Michael Gaynor
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
