Now its Wall Street regulators and their Democratic friends in Congress who are squealing over the Republican budget proposals.
Repeal the damn bill! The IRS announced today that it will require over a thousand new agents and $359 million more money to implement Obamacare in 2012. Key quote:
The detailed IRS budget documents spell out exactly what most of the new workforce will be doing. For example, some 81 will be tasked just to handle the tax reporting of 25,000 tanning salons. They face a new 10 percent excise tax on indoor tanning services. Another 76 will be assigned to make sure businesses engaged in making and imported drugs pay their new fee which is expected to deliver $2.8 billion to the Treasury in 2012 and 2013. The new healthcare corps will also require new facilities and computers.
Oink! As lame or as timid as Obama’s budget proposals might be, the left is still livid over them.
It’s really terrible when you aren’t allowed to spend other people’s money!
A bipartisan abuse of freedom! Senate Democrats rejected an amendment today that would have prevented TSA workers from unionizing. Meanwhile, the Republicans in the House have extended the provisions of the Patriot Act that allow for the surveillance of ordinary citizens, without explanation.
The head squealer goes oink! Nancy Pelosi (D-California) said yesterday that the proposed GOP budget would put “women and children last.”
Meanwhile, her assistant squealer, Steny Hoyer, insisted that a government shutdown could only be the fault of the Republicans. According to Hoyer, the Democrats in the Senate are mere bystanders, having nothing to do with any of this at all.
What incompetent idiots.
Bad news for freedom: An Austrian court today convicted Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff for speaking out against Islam. Key quote:
It seems the case turned on the judge’s reasoning that her statement that Islam’s prophet Mohammed was a “pedophile” was defamatory since his child bride Aisha (age six at the time of marriage and nine at the time it was consummated) remained his wife when she turned 18.
More details at Gates of Vienna.
USA Today calls Obama’s budget cuts lame.
That a mainstream newspaper like USA Today is calling for more cuts than Obama suggests strongly that the Republicans in Congress have all the momentum and should push hard for every cut they can.
The chances of a government shutdown increase. This is good news, as far as I’m concerned.
This should be fun: Tough-talking Chris Christie to speak in D.C. tomorrow. Key quote:
Like Christie himself, the message he’ll deliver Wednesday at the conservative American Enterprise Institute is unorthodox and straightforward: he accuses both parties, Democrats and Republicans alike, of “timidity” in the face of the coming fiscal calamity.
Concerning Obama’s proposals for NASA’s 2012 budget, a closer look by me since yesterday has caused me to reconsider my earlier post. I think I spoke too soon, before I had time to review the Obama budget proposal entirely.
Though the Obama administration has pulled back somewhat from its initial 2011 budget proposals for commercial space, it does appear that they are not abandoning that effort as I had thought at first. Their 2012 proposal ($850 million per year) is still significantly higher than what Congress had authorized ($500 million), which suggests a willingness to fight for this program.
As for the program-formerly-called-Constellation, however, it does appear that this pork program is going forward. Instead of trying to cancel it like last year, the administration now appears to have become resigned to its existence, and this year includes significant funds for its construction.
Regardless, considering the insane state of the federal deficit, it seems to me both unrealistic and foolish to fund either of these programs at this time. Pork politics unfortunately will probably help keep alive the funding for the program-formerly-called-Constellation, while the lack of a powerful constituency for commercial space leaves these subsidizes very vulnerable to Congressional trimming.
Await the squeals from scientists: The journal Science notes the differences between the budget proposals coming from the House Republicans (cutting funds to science) and Obama (increasing funds to science) and hopes for the best. (You can also get a good idea about the increases to science that Obama proposes by going to this ScienceInsider story and scanning down the various articles.) Key quote:
Both conservatives and liberals agree: the main pressure pushing the federal deficit is entitlements; the discretionary budget is dwarfed by mandatory Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security spending. And yet neither the House of Representatives Republican appropriators’ proposal to tackle the deficit starting in 2011 nor Obama’s new budget for next year tackles the real challenge of entitlements. Instead, both pick and choose the discretionary cuts they want to start with.
From my mind, we should accept the cuts from both sides, then go after the entitlements.
Another critical look at Obama’s budget proposal, this time from liberal Dana Milbank at the Washington Post! Key quote:
Obama’s budget proposal is a remarkably weak and timid document. He proposes to cut only $1.1 trillion from federal deficits over the next decade – a pittance when you consider that the deficit this year alone is in the neighborhood of $1.5 trillion. The president makes no serious attempt at cutting entitlement programs that threaten to drive the government into insolvency.
And here’s another: “Steep cuts?” Even the left Is starting to notice.
A critical look at Obama’s overall budget proposal, by the numbers.
Obama sends Congress his $3.73 trillion budget proposal.
Note that today is budget announcement day in Washington. The Obama administration is releasing its proposed federal budget for 2012, available for Congress to accept, revise, reject, change, or ignore. More shortly on what this means for NASA.
Debt now equals total U.S. economy. And that’s according to the Obama administration!
It ain’t enough but I like the trend: Obama’s new budget to be released tomorrow will promise $1.1 trillion in deficit reduction over next decade.
Bernanke to Congress: We’re much closer to total destruction than you think. Key quote:
One way or the other, fiscal adjustments sufficient to stabilize the federal budget must occur at some point. The question is whether these adjustments will take place through a careful and deliberative process that weighs priorities and gives people adequate time to adjust to changes in government programs or tax policies, or whether the needed fiscal adjustments will come as a rapid and painful response to a looming or actual fiscal crisis.
House Republicans propose even deeper NASA cuts.
The government free ride is ending. If you want us to go into space, you better consider buying a ticket.
Keep those cuts coming! The House GOP today released its 2011 spending bill, claiming to include $100 billion in cuts. It seems that everyone gets hit, even defense. Worst hit, however, is EPA, with a 29% reduction from its 2010 budget.
You can see the summary here. [pdf]
Our government in action: A Palm Beach County man was scolded by his local government for organizing a clean up of trash on private properties.
The new space race: Boeing and Indian space agency are discussing a possible manned mission.
Now for some squealing from the “press”: Tea Party freshmen may rue $100B in cuts. I like this comment in response to the story:
Where was the press when Democrats passed $800 billion in useless stimulus? Where were they when unemployment shot up and over the 8% limit Democrats said we would reach without the lame stimulus? They sure jump up when you come up short on $100 billion in cuts…good luck and go after entitlements, please.
Even as Congress argues over NASA’s budget, Constellation marches on! The first completed Orion capsule was shipped from the factory yesterday to undergo tests.
Government in action: “Hey, I thought she was mine! I was gonna do her!”
SpaceX has put the Dragon 9 space capsule that flew in space on display in D.C. Though it is really cool that they are making the capsule so available to the public, this quote tells us the real story:
With Congress preparing in the weeks ahead to again address the question of government contracts for commercial space businesses such as SpaceX, the company wanted to give it (and attendees of the nearby FAA Commercial Space Transportation Conference) an opportunity to see the capsule. Members of Congress and of the Obama administration were invited to attend a Thursday evening viewing, and company officials said the response has been enthusiastic.
Keep this momentum going! The House Republican leadership was forced this week to increase its proposed budget cuts to $100 billion because of tea party movement pressure, both in the House and back at home. Key quote from this New York Times report:
The reversal was the most concrete demonstration yet that the wave of fiscal conservatives who catapulted Republicans into the House majority is reshaping the political and policy calculations being made by the party leadership.
Repeal the damn bill! The director of the Congressional Budget Office admitted today that Obamacare will destroy about 800,000 jobs.
This is truly hopeful news: Freshman GOP to leadership: Business as usual is over.
Now for some squeals from the right: Why we must never, ever cut the military budget!
More humor: The Obama administration has now clarified its position on Egypt.
