US lawmakers reach deal to avert govt shutdown

The agreement included some $38.5 billion
dollars of extra spending cuts
© AFP/File Jewel Samad

AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A dramatic 11th-hour deal slashing spending has staved off a US government shutdown, ending a rancorous budget row between President Barack Obama and his newly empowered Republican foes.

Party leaders clinched the agreement, including some $38.5 billion dollars of extra spending cuts, after intense bargaining, barely an hour before the federal government effectively ran out of money at midnight Friday.

The showdown was just the first bruising engagement in a string of likely clashes between Obama and Republicans boosted by a new crop of conservative Tea Party lawmakers, as the president fires up his 2012 reelection bid.


Obama boasted in remarks at the White House that cooperation born of difficult compromises had yielded "the biggest annual spending cut in history" at a time when Washington faced a projected annual shortfall of $1.65 trillion.


"Some of the cuts we agreed to will be painful. Programs people rely on will be cut back. Needed infrastructure projects will be delayed," the president said.

He continued to sell the deal to the public on Saturday, saying in his weekly radio address that "beginning to live within our means is the only way to protect the investments that will help America compete for new jobs."

House Speaker John Boehner told his restive Republican caucus behind closed doors he had sealed an agreement with the White House to fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year ending October 1.

"This has been a lot of discussion and a long fight. But we fought to keep government spending down because it really will, in fact, help create a better environment for job creators in our country," he told reporters afterwards.

Lawmakers in both chambers raced to approve a stopgap funding measure before midnight to give negotiators until Thursday to finalize the overall deal.

The Senate passed it by voice vote, the House by a 348-70 margin at 12:39 am (0439 GMT) Saturday.

"It's been a gruelling process. We didn't do it at this late hour for drama. We did it because it has been hard to arrive at this point," said Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, his party's lead negotiator.

Anticipating a possible insurrection, Boehner told Republicans "this is the best deal we could get out of them," according to two officials who attended the emotional gathering.

Republican Representative Marsha Blackburn wept about the possible impact of spending cuts on a military base dear to her district, a witness said. Another came from a formal event still in black tie. Another wore a ball gown.

The agreement came after a long day in which Republican leaders parried every question with a "no deal" up to three hours before the deadline, despite telephone discussions between Obama and Boehner.

Participants nervously alluded to 1995, when the US government last plunged into a shutdown caused by a funding row, and Bill Clinton outmaneuvered his Republican foes and rescued a sagging presidency.

"We had an opportunity tonight to decide whether we wanted to repeat history or make history. We decided to make history," said Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Obama had warned that a prolonged government shutdown could jeopardize America's slow recovery from the worst economic crisis since the 1930s Great Depression.

A shutdown would have seen around 800,000 federal employees temporarily laid off, paychecks for frontline combat soldiers delayed and national parks and monuments closed.

But operations vital to national security such as the war in Afghanistan and border services would have gone on as normal.

McConnell wasted little time signalling that Republicans would do battle with Obama on his request to raise Washington's ability to borrow -- an issue that has inflamed the Tea Party.

"Senate Republicans and House Republicans -- and I hope many Democrats as well -- are going to say 'Mr President, in order to raise the debt ceiling we need to do something significant about the debt,'" he said.

The overall spending accord removed what Democrats had described as the biggest obstacle to a deal: A Republican-crafted measure stripping federal funding from the Planned Parenthood clinics that provide abortions.

Obama canceled a planned trip to Indiana on Friday to stay in Washington and see the final push to the end. He also called off a weekend away with his family in the historic Virginia city of Williamsburg.

© AFP -- Published at Activist Post with license

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Debt Jumped $54.1 Billion in 8 Days Preceding Obama-Boehner Deal to Cut $38.5 Billion for Rest of Year

wiki

Terrence P. Jeffrey 
CNS News

The federal debt increased $54.1 billion in the eight days preceding the deal made by President Barack Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) and House Speaker John Boehner (R.-Ohio) to cut $38.5 billion in federal spending for the remainder of fiscal year 2011, which runs through September.

The debt was $14.2101 trillion on March 30, according to the Bureau of the Public Debt, and $14.2642 on April 7.

Since the beginning of the fiscal year on Oct. 1, 2010, the national debt has increase by $653.4 billion.

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Don't Believe the False Budget Arguments (Video)

Youtube

http://www.wideawakenews.com/
http://www.moneynews.com/StreetTalk/Laurence-Kotlikoff-Fiscal-Meltdown/2011/0...
http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2011-03-31-ceo-pay-2010.htm

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Ratigan to Ron Paul: 'Don't You Have an Obligation to Run for President?' (Video)

Activist Post

Ron Paul appears with Dylan Ratigan on April 5th, 2011 to discuss the budget cut debate and foreign policy.  Paul says the budget debate is a joke and "nothing compared to the calamity that we face."  Ratigan, as if pleading with Paul at the end of the interview, asks "Don't you have an obligation to run for President?

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US Republicans vow steep long-term spending cuts

Editor's Note: "Ryan's plan would privatize the Medicare health program for older Americans, giving beneficiaries vouchers to pay for care." Of course it will.  Using a "crisis" to transfer more taxpayer funds to private cartels.

Republican Representative Paul Ryan
© AFP/File Jim Watson

AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - President Barack Obama's Republican foes, warning the debt-heavy US economy is headed for collapse, unveiled a plan on Tuesday to slash government spending by $6 trillion over the next decade.

Republican Representative Paul Ryan, the chairman of the House of Representatives' Budget Committee, showcased the party's "Path to Prosperity" as a direct rebuke to what he denounced as Obama's free-spending ways.

"The United States is heading toward a debt crisis," Ryan said in a slickly produced video on his committee web site. "We face a crushing burden of debt, which will take down our economy, and will lower our living standards."
"That doesn't have to be our future," said Ryan, whose blueprint calls for cutting tax rates faced by corporations and the richest Americans while curbing spending on health and retirement programs for the poor and elderly.


Ryan said his plan would cut some $4 trillion from US deficits over the next ten years and roll back all manner of regulations that Republicans -- who have ruled out tax increases as a way to balance the books -- charge stifle growth.

The pitched political battle over government spending and regulations -- on everything from the environment to consumer protections to health care to new rules on the financial industry -- is sure to shape Obama's 2012 reelection bid.

Facing Democratic charges that the blueprint guts help for the neediest to swell the wallets of the wealthiest, the Wisconsin lawmaker warned Washington has "zero hope" of getting spending under control without making hard choices.

But even with support from Republican leaders, the plan faced an uphill political battle -- it faced almost certain doom in the Democratic-led Senate and could rile elderly voters, a hugely powerful voting bloc.

Ryan's plan would privatize the Medicare health program for older Americans, giving beneficiaries vouchers to pay for care, and turn the Medicaid health program for the poor from a partnership between Washington and the states into block grants from the federal government.

Critics have charged that the Medicare approach is a recipe for cost controls by rationing care, and that the Medicaid plan would starve states of cash if an economic downturn forces more people to seek shelter in that program.

© AFP -- Published at Activist Post with license

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US to reach debt limit by May 16: Treasury

"Default would cause a financial crisis potentially more severe than the crisis from which we are only now starting to recover," Geithner said. He warned that military pay, social assistance payments and tax refunds could be among the first things to be blocked.

US Treasury Department said US likely to hit
$14.29 trln debt limit sooner than thought
© AFP/File Karen Bleier

AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States is likely to hit its $14.29 trillion debt limit sooner than thought, the Treasury Department said Monday, pressuring lawmakers to raise the ceiling or face a possible government default.

"The Treasury Department now projects that the debt limit will be reached no later than May 16, 2011," the Treasury said.

The department previously estimated it would hit the ceiling by May 31.

If it is not raised, the United States would only have weeks before it runs out of cash to pay its bills, according to government estimates.
"Increasing the limit is necessary to allow the United States to meet obligations that have been previously authorized and appropriated by Congress," Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a letter to lawmakers.


He warned that military pay, social assistance payments and tax refunds could be among the first things to be blocked.

"Default would cause a financial crisis potentially more severe than the crisis from which we are only now starting to recover," Geithner said.

The warning came as US lawmakers battle over how to cut spending and trim the budget deficit.

Although the issues of extending the debt ceiling and balancing the budget are not linked, they have become enmeshed thanks to Washington's political deal-making.

The debt ceiling became a hot-button issue after Republicans took control of the US House of Representatives in early January, leaving Obama's Democrats only in control of the Senate.

© AFP -- Published at Activist Post with license

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Obama, Republicans seek spending cut endgame

© AFP/Getty Images/File Spencer Platt

AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - President Barack Obama and his Republican foes, spurred on by archconservatives irate over gaping deficits, have until Friday to agree on what may be the deepest spending cuts in US history.

Key Democratic and Republican lawmakers, joined by top Obama aides, are inching privately towards a deal to fund the government to October 1 and avert a partial federal shutdown triggered when a short-term funding measure expires at midnight on Friday.

Republicans have publicly disputed a Democratic claim that the two sides have agreed to slash $33 billion (23 billion euros) and are now arguing over where to make the cuts, saying no single component is set in stone until a comprehensive deal is reached.
The outcome of the fight is sure to shape Obama's 2012 reelection prospects, and will help determine the political clout of the "Tea Party" movement that has demanded deep spending cuts in return for their support for Republicans.

In a rare moment of public agreement, Obama and Republican Speaker John Boehner both warned Friday against failure to reach a compromise -- though each gave a different reason for fearing a government shutdown.

Speaking after a new jobs report that found unemployment at a two-year low -- but still high at 8.8 percent -- the president warned that a shutdown could hamper the fragile US recovery.

"It would be the height of irresponsibility to halt our economic momentum because of the same old Washington politics," Obama said. "That could jeopardize the economic recovery."

Boehner called the jobs report "welcome news" but stressed that "Washington needs to do a lot more (to) get our economy moving again" and warned that a shutdown would carry a high price tag because of disrupted government contracts.

"Frankly -- let's all be honest -- if you shut the government down, it'll end up costing more than you save," he told reporters.

Boehner's comments came a day after scores of "Tea Party" members demonstrated a stone's throw from the US Capitol to demand that Republicans stiffen their spine and reject compromise with Democrats.

"It's time to pick a fight," Republican Representative Mike Pence told the rowdy crowd under a chilly drizzle, warning that the standoff was "a defining moment for the new (Republican) majority in Congress."

Pence and other speakers said they were willing to shut the government down if Democrats rejected what he called "a small down payment on fiscal discipline and reform" -- putting Boehner in a potentially tough spot, with 87 new House members who owe their November election in part to the Tea Party.

"We're going to fight for the largest spending cuts that we can get, and I'm hopeful that we'll get it as soon as possible," Boehner promised Friday.

A day earlier, the speaker had sounded more defensive, saying Republicans "can't impose our will on the Senate" and only control the House, which passed $61 billion dollars in cuts early this year.

If the $33 billion figure anchors the final deal, Republicans could credibly claim a victory over Democrats, who condemned such a figure in February as "extreme" and "draconian."

But Democrats have vowed to hold the line against what Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Friday called "ridiculous" Republican proposals, notably one that would block the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming.

And Boehner may need moderate Democrats' help to muscle the compromise bill to passage -- something he can count on if the deal is "reasonable," according to number-two Democratic Senator Dick Durbin.

Obama on Friday expressed optimism that a final compromise is "within reach" even though "there's still details and differences to work out."

But in separate phone calls to Reid and Boehner on Saturday, he told them that budget negotiators were "running short on time."

The president told the congressional leaders that he had directed White House budget negotiators "to work hard over the weekend with the appropriators to help reach resolution on the composition of those cuts," a White House statement said.

Meanwhile, Boehner, delivering a weekly Republican address on Saturday, disputed the claim that the sides had agreed on a number for cuts.

"You've heard Democrat leaders claim an agreement has been reached on this issue. But let me be clear, there is no agreement," he said.

© AFP -- Published at Activist Post with license

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Michigan passes 'financial martial law' bill

Editor's Note: Finally, they're sending in the troops to arrest the banksters.  Oh wait, the tyranny is actually directed at the little people and coordinated by the banksters.  My bad!

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder/Wikimedia Commons

Jennifer Epstein
Politico

Michigan legislators have approved a bill authorizing state-appointed emergency financial managers to break union contracts that struggling cities and school districts have with their workers.

Following up on the state Senate’s passage of the bill last week, the House passed the bill 62-48 on Tuesday, sending the legislation to Republican Gov. Rick Snyder for final approval. Snyder, who asked for the expanded powers for emergency financial managers, is expected to sign the bill into law.

Supporters say the bill gives the state a way to step into distressed municipalities and schools before they collapse. It also gives emergency financial managers broad authority to end employee union contracts, and to nullify elected boards and councils.

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Rescue Choppers Or Corporate Jets? The Biggest Fraud Of All

Japan devastation/AFP image

Dylan Ratigan
Daily Bail

I've been glued to my TV and computer all weekend watching the horrors unfold in Japan. I don't know very much about the Japanese budgetary situation, how much the clean-up is going to cost, etc. But I know that no one in Japan right now is worrying about the Japanese budget deficit, or whether there is any waste in the emergency services departments of local or national governments, or whether the emergency shelters holding millions of people could be provided any cheaper. At times like this, people are desperately hoping that someone can save their friends, family, and make sure that supplies move to people who need them.

And in all the footage of people being saved, I haven't seen one mega-bank rescue anyone. I saw help from a lot of volunteers, firemen, rescue workers, doctors, nurses, etc. But not one bank. And that was true during snowstorms in North Dakota, the floods in New Orleans, and the earthquake in Haiti. Oddly, though the banks are sucking up enormous amounts of our budgetary resources, they don't own rescue helicopters, they don't track earthquakes, they don't study tsunamis, and they don't deal with radiation poisoning.
According to Simon Johnson, roughly 40% of the increase in privately held government debt over the past few years is due to the financial crisis caused by these mega-banks. Yet, the Federal budget debate is centered on slashing spending on things that we actually need, things that, when a crisis happens, saves our lives.

Instead of taking back the money spent on these bailouts, the new "tea party" Republicans are instead trying to slash funds for the agency that warned our West Coast of the tsunami. How many millions of dollars did NOAA save by giving us due warning and letting us protect property? We'll never know, just as the Japanese can't know how many hundreds of thousands survived due to a strong infrastructure and well-funded preparations.

I don't mean to pick on the Republican leaders, though actually, yes, I do. Just cutting government programs sounds good, until your friend or family member is hanging on a rooftop somewhere praying for a rescue, a rescue that would have had to have been planned and pre-funded years before since helicopters can't actually be wished into existence upon demand. But let's be clear, the dynamic that is starving our government of revenue is one that the Democrats created from 2008-2010, when they allowed and encouraged the big banks to feed on the government trough. This bipartisan corrupt racket, where Democrats help banks loot and Republicans give the bill to the rest of us, needs to end.

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U.S. Debt Jumped $72 Billion Same Day U.S. House Voted to Cut Spending $6 Billion

National Debt Clock/Wiki Commons image

Terrence P. Jeffrey
CNS News

The national debt jumped by $72 billion on Tuesday even as the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution to fund the government for just three weeks that will cut $6 billion from government spending.

If Congress were to cut $6 billion every three weeks for the next 36 weeks, it would manage to save between now and late November as much money as the Treasury added to the nation’s net debt during just the business hours of Tuesday, March 15.

At the close of business on Monday, according to the Treasury Department’s Bureau of the Public Debt, the total national debt stood at $14.166 trillion ($14,166,030,787,779.80). At the close of business Tuesday, the debt stood at $14.237 trillion ($14,237,952,276,898.69), an increase of $71.9 billion ($71,921,489,118.89).

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RELATED:
Collapse Coming: Budget Cuts Will Only Speed It Up

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