Budget Fight (FY23 and Beyond...)

[Fergasun]

Bumping this because I found some really interesting things out: 

(1) Reagan bemoaned deficits but really did nothing to curtail them. I think he froze Federal salary pay raises a couple of times (which sucks for Federal workers).   Here is a speech from him in 1985 that sounds like every Republican when they talk about cutting the deficit.  

 

(2) Republicans have failed to actually enact deficit reduction when they have the Federal Trifecta.  Bush had a Federal Trifecta in 2005 -- and a 55/45 Senate majority.  Trump had a 52/48 majority in Congress in 2017. 

 

(3) Clinton achieved significant deficit reduction with Democrats based on his 1993 budget.  

 

(4) Everyone bemoans the "Bush tax cuts".  Democrats voted for them.  The "BUSH"  tax cuts from 2001 were passed under a Senate with a 50/50 split.  11 Democrats voted for them.  2 Republicans voted against them -- Chafee and John McCain.  These tax cuts were extended under Obama.  He did allow the highest marginal individual rate to go up.  

 

(5) I think it's clear that over a period of 40 years, no one actually believes that the President, Congress or anyone will do anything about the Federal budget deficit.  Other than use it for a cheap talking point.  

[China]

The House GOP Is Fighting With Itself Over Having A Budget Fight With Joe Biden

 

The first salvo in House Republicans’ next budget fight has already been fired. But instead of Democrats being the target, the shot was across the bow of fellow Republicans.

 

Ahead of President Joe Biden’s release of his own budget plan on Monday, the GOP-controlled House Budget Committee passed a budget blueprint for 2025 on Thursday. The plan, essentially an outline of annual spending, revenue and deficit totals through 2034 but almost entirely nonbinding, was approved on a party-line 19-to-15 vote.

 

The ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus and House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) want to pass their budget through the full House ― something neither party has done in an election year since 2014, when John Boehner was still the House speaker and the first “Guardians of the Galaxy” movie was the box office champion.

 

Their plan, however, is likely to encounter resistance from vulnerable GOP House members, who will see little political upside and tons of risk from passing a meaningless document filled with potential vulnerabilities.

 

“Is that right?” Arrington asked when told how long it had been.

 

“Remember, my budget’s called ‘Reverse the Curse,’ so we’re going to reverse the curse on that,” he said.

 

Whether Republicans choose to pick a fight or not, the two documents present starkly different futures for the country: Biden would propose increasing taxes on the wealthy to pay for universal pre-kindergarten, temporarily reinstate the $300-per-month child tax credit, provide 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave, and create a tax break for first-time home buyers. It would trim $3 trillion off the national debt in the next decade.

 

The House budget would instead make major but unspecified cuts to existing agency programs, aiming to shrink the national debt by about $14 trillion over the next decade while extending existing tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.

 

Though budget proposals are largely symbolic, projected spending cuts or higher revenues in the budget are used by opponents to say those who vote for it support cuts in specific programs or tax increases, and those claims can make for brutally effective campaign ads.

 

Click on the link for the full article