Thursday, July 28, 2011
James Fallows reports:From his essay blaming the Republicans for the current debt limit impasse: (original emphasis) It has turned into zealotry, by which I mean utter disregard for the practical consequences of acts. A Republican demand for $16 million in cuts from the FAA budget (plus some anti-union provisions) has led to an FAA shutdown that has in turn, as the NY Times reports, led to a $25 million per day loss in fees the airlines paid to the FAA. That is, zealotry on this point has already cost the government more than ten times as much as the cuts would have saved. This is not a surprising development.
posted by Quiddity at 7/28/2011 09:34:00 PM
5 comments
> A Republican demand for $16 million in
> cuts from the FAA budget (plus some
> anti-union provisions) has led to an
> FAA shutdown that has in turn, as the
> NY Times reports, led to a $25 million
> per day loss in fees the airlines paid
> to the FAA.
Nice spin!
"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., hasn't taken steps to force a vote on a bill that's necessary to restore the agency's operating authority in part because he doesn't want to tie up the Senate in what could be a time-consuming fight, a leadership aide said. Reid wants to keep the Senate's agenda clear for a quick vote if negotiators settle on a debt deal, said the aide, who asked not to be named because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly.
Reid is the one holding the FAA hostage by refusing to open debate on the Republican bill.
The essay includes an interesting chart showing the contributions of Bush/Cheney to the deficits in comparison to those of Obama/Biden, the latter having been handed the former's deep hole of the Great Recession of 2008.
And what is the evidence that Anonymous has that the GOP House is willing to debate its bill when the whole game/scheme of the GOP is to thwart Obama at every turn in their major aim to put "What's His/Her Name" in the White House? Maybe we should "follow the money" in the form of airlines political contributions to House GOPers for their windfall.
The loss in revenue is (from the GOP point of view) a feature not a fault. Agencies that bring in money and/or enforce the actual payment of money owed to the state are and have been a primary target. If tax cuts can't get through then the collection of that money must be prevented by other means.
And what is the evidence that Anonymous has that the GOP House is willing to debate its bill when the whole game/scheme of the GOP is to thwart Obama at every turn ...
The Senate is supposed to pass their bill, the way they want it, then send the two bills into conference to hash it out and find the compromise. The evidence that the GOP House is willing to debate is the fact that they passed the bill in the first place. They took their first step, and now they are waiting for the Democrats to take their first step, but for this Senate, the first step seems to be the impossible step. Every time.
Don't any of the Democrats remember how to play this game? They won't propose a budget because the Republicans won't give them exactly what they want at the start of the negotiations. Now they won't reauthorize the FAA because the Republicans won't give them exactly what they want at the start of the negotiations.
Reid needs to put his ego on hold and actually participate in the lawmaking process, not dig in his heels and refuse to move legislation just because it isn't in his preferred final form. Democrats need to come to grips with the fact that they no longer control the House. The Republican House is not the dysfunctional branch.
Anonymous' proof:
"The Republican House is not the dysfunctional branch."
is trumped by Speaker Bo(eh)ner's boner yesterday. TAN-fastic!
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