The hard-fought deal that settled last year's debt-ceiling fight made
painfully deep cuts in spending, but it promised one thing: a year's
peace from the destructive Congressional battles that led to threats
of government shutdowns and defaults. By signing the pact, Republican
and Democratic leaders set spending levels for 2013, putting off
further budget wars until after the election.
But now a coalition of extreme conservatives in the House wants to
break the budget agreement and cut spending below the agreed level,
and the House Budget Committee seems willing to go along.
Reneging on the agreement would not only endanger vital programs like
Head Start, but it would erase the thin residue of trust left in
Congress. It would clearly demonstrate that the current House cannot
be trusted to live up to its own pledges.
When Republicans created the debt-ceiling crisis in August, their
principal goal was to cut spending, and they got their wish. By
threatening a government default, they forced an agreement, negotiated
by Speaker John Boehner, that cut $2.3 trillion from the budget over a
decade without a dime of new taxes. That includes more than $800
billion cut from nondefense discretionary spending, in vital areas
like education, housing assistance, transportation, public health and
veterans benefits.
For fiscal year 2013, the agreement set a discretionary spending level
of $1.047 trillion. Though far too low, that level at least let
appropriators in both the House and Senate know how much they had to
spend, and House Republicans crowed about it at the time. "The Budget
Control Act represents a victory for those committed to controlling
government spending and growing our economy," said Representative Paul
Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee. Now members of the
Republican Study Committee, the most right-wing members of the House,
want to bring the 2013 level down to $931 billion, an unimaginable 11
percent cut in a single year. House officials say Mr. Ryan's committee
is unlikely to cut that much but could bring 2013 spending down to
$1.028 trillion.
That $19 billion cut, on top of the ones already agreed to, could have
terrible consequences. Assuming it was applied evenly to all
nondefense programs, it would mean that 50,000 children would lose
access to Head Start; 20,000 families would lose child-care slots; and
10,500 teachers and their aides would lose their jobs.
With the Senate sticking to the agreed-upon spending limit, a lower
House number could lead to a clash between the chambers that raises
the prospect of another government shutdown. Democrats say they are
furious that the agreement could be undercut. "If House Republicans
walk away from the agreement their own speaker made less than a year
ago, then they will show that a deal with them isn't worth the paper
it's printed on," said Senator Patty Murray, who led the Democrats on
the budget "supercommittee" last year. If Mr. Boehner is to retain any
credibility as a leader of the House and a responsible lawmaker, he
needs to extinguish this rebellion and make it clear that a deal is a
deal.
More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/10/opinion/a-breach-of-trust.html?ref=opinion
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
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