Tag: Congress

The federal government is expected to hit its debt ceiling before the end of the year.

4:50 pm

The day of reckoning looms: The federal government is expected to hit its debt ceiling before the end of the year.

The federal government is bankrupting the country, and it will take hard sacrifices to rein in that federal government. I fear that, regardless of how today’s election ends, neither party will be willing to propose those sacrifices, mostly because they will believe the voters are not willing either.

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Why I spent $50 at a political fundraiser today

6:54 pm

Jonathan Paton

Two days ago Ralph Kayser, head of the Tucson Tea Party, sent out an email announcing that the Republican Congressional candidate for my district, Jonathan Paton (pictured on the right), was going to hold a luncheon fundraiser today. Ralph wanted to know if anyone was interested in attending.

Normally, I detest giving money to politicians, from either party. I consider them to be the worst form of bloodsuckers. They don’t produce any wealth, cannot create jobs no matter how hard they try, add restrictions to our lives that squelch freedom, and generally only serve to squeeze tax dollars from us all for wasteful government projects, money that we would better left in our own hands to use as we each saw fit. And then they go on the campaign trail, begging for more money so that they can beat the other guy.

Like I say, bloodsuckers.

Nonetheless, to me this election is different, in the same way the 2010 election was different.
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Boeing and the fear of competition

5:58 pm

Boeing has indicated that it might shelve its CST-100 manned capsule, despite their recent almost half a billion dollar contract award from NASA.

This possibility illustrates why Boeing is losing market share, not only in space, but in the aviation industry. The article suggests that the NASA contract might not be enough to pay for CST-100, and that Boeing is unsure there is enough private market to make up the difference.

“That’s just for the ISS. That’s kind of the basement,” adds Elbon. More flights than those to the ISS are required he says, and Boeing is cautious about over-committing itself while future revenue streams are unclear.

I say bull hockey.
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The cost of regulations is 80 times higher than OMB’s estimate, according to the estimates of each individual government agency.

10:09 am

We’re more doomed than we know: The cost of government regulation is actually 80 times higher than OMB’s estimate, according to the estimates made by each individual government agency.

“While OMB officially reports amounts of only up to $88.6 billion in 2010 dollars,” said Crews, “the non-tax cost of government intervention in the economy, without performing a sweeping survey, appears to total up to $1.806 trillion annually.”

The $1.8 trillion number comes from looking at the estimates made by each agency and then adding them up.

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The automatic budget cuts triggered by sequestration appear increasingly likely according to two defense analysts.

4:47 pm

Good news: The automatic budget cuts triggered by sequestration appear increasingly likely according to two defense analysts.

Now that the Obama administration has released some details on how these 8.2 and 9.4 percent cuts will be imposed, I find them a refreshing change from business-as-usual in Washington. As far as I can tell, the only thing really wrong with them is that they only scratch the surface of the federal budget debt.

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Congress is on a pace this year to pass the fewest laws in a single year since World War II.

10:15 am

Gridlock is good! Congress is on a pace this year to pass the fewest laws in a single year since World War II.

Just 61 bills have become law to date in 2012 out of 3,914 bills that have been introduced by lawmakers, or less than 2 percent of all proposed laws, according to a USA Today analysis of records since 1947 kept by the U.S. House Clerk’s office.

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“Sequestration would come at ‘great cost’ to NASA.”

8:06 pm

Another whining article about sequestration: “Sequestration would come at ‘great cost’ to NASA.”

Let’s be blunt. An 8.2 percent cut in NASA’s budget will not destroy the agency. It will hurt them, surely, but it will only bring their budget back the agency’s 2005 budget. Considering the deficit and debt, this is hardly a draconian cut.

If the Republicans are serious about getting the budget under control — as they say they are — then these automatic cuts imposed by sequestration should not give them heartburn.

As for the Democrats, no point in caring what they think or do. We already know they aren’t serious about getting the budget under control, considering the budgets Obama has proposed, all of which were rejected unanimously by both Houses of Congress, and the refusal of the Democrats in the Senate to even offer a budget for the past three years.

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The science cuts from sequestration

3:47 pm

The journal Science today published this detailed look at the cuts that would occur in all the federal government’s various science programs should the automatic budget cuts outlined in the sequestration legislation occur on January 2, 2013.

Not surprising, the article includes a great deal of moaning and groaning about the terrible harm the cuts would have on science research should they occur. From the Obama administration:
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The Obama administration will miss the legal deadline — from a law he signed only less than a month ago — to provide details on implementing the required budget cuts under sequestration.

7:01 pm

The law is such an inconvenient thing: The Obama administration will miss the legal deadline — set by a law he signed only a month ago — to provide details on implementing the required budget cuts under sequestration.

This is only one data point in a long string of data points that have consistently illustrated how disinterested the Obama administration is in dealing with budget issues and the federal debt. And disinterested might be too kind a word. Incompetent also comes to mind.

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