Free Republic

2013 has not been a pleasant year if you work for the federal government. You’ve been subject to pay freezes, furloughs and shutdowns. One of you got yelled at by a Tea Party Republican at the World War II memorial. And if Congress passes the budget deal announced Tuesday night by Rep. Paul Ryan and Sen. Patty Murray – a big if – you will get a final Christmas present: You’ll have to pay more into your pension, an effective wage cut that just adds to the $114 billion, with a “B,” federal employees have already given back to the...

The actual text of the Ryan-Murray budget deal came out late last night, so it’s only now possible to really consider the particulars and see how it looks. It seems to me that the details look a fair bit better than the general outline that had been reported in the press over the past week or so, particularly on the question of whether the entitlement cuts that would replace some discretionary sequester cuts could be expected to actually materialize. As it stands, this strikes me as more or less a very small-scale version of the sort of thing that Republicans...

Nicolle Wallace played the quintessential DC insider on today's Morning Joe, proclaiming herself a "groupie" of both conservative Senator Tom Coburn and liberal partisan David Axelrod, while also saying she was "inspired" by Paul Ryan's leadership in forging a budget compromise deal. But the Sooner senator wasn't letting the inside-the-Beltway bonhomie blunt his criticism, saying the budget deal "sells out" what needs to be done, and gives up "core values." View the video here.

Let's get something out of the way. I know we are in an era of divided government and that we can not expect to achieve all of our conservative goals. That's a given fact. If we expect to achieve anything, we must be willing to compromise on some issues. That's what Paul Ryan is already saying as he tries to sell the new budget deal he has reached with Democratic Senator Patty Murray to his fellow Republicans. I also know we have moved from government crisis to government crisis with predictable reliability. No budget deal has been reached for years. Our...

Congressional budget negotiators have reached a two-year agreement aimed at avoiding a government shutdown on Jan. 15 and setting federal government spending levels through Oct. 1, 2015. Democratic Senator Patty Murray and Representative Paul Ryan scheduled a news conference for 6 p.m. EST to announce the details of the deal they worked out. … As details of a budget deal trickled out of Washington on Tuesday, conservative groups prepared to oppose any agreement that would alter the automatic spending cuts from the 2011 deal. Republican and Democratic negotiators’ budget agreement would stop as much as $65 billion in sequestration cuts...

There are a number of URLS to look at for the story on the Pork Barrel deal that ended the shutdown. This was a $3 billion project for Illinois and Kentucky (something for Obama and something for Senator McConnell): Politico: Conservatives accuse Mitch McConnell of 'Kentucky kickback' in spending deal Marketwatch 'blog': Debt-ceiling bill funds Kentucky dam project to ire of McConnell foesThere's a little pork in that bill: The 5 most surprising provisions in the debt deal Maybe each of these stories should have their own thread. Or maybe Repbulicans should focus on the fact that the Republican Senate...

As part of the deal to end the government shutdown and extend the debt limit, the House and Senate have agreed to begin long-stalled budget negotiations. The conferees planned to meet Thursday morning for breakfast—to “break the ice,” the Associated Press reported. Once the actual talks get underway, President Obama will insist that tax hikes be part of the solution. “The president has insisted that in the budget negotiations that he’s been calling for all year, everything has to be on the table. And that will be his position going forward,” White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters on Wednesday....

The US Senate has passed a bill to reopen the government and raise the federal debt limit, with hours to spare before the nation risks default. The Democratic-controlled Senate's bipartisan compromise won swift approval by 81 votes to 18. It will now be sent to the House of Representatives, whose Republican leadership has begrudgingly said it will support the measure. It comes hours before the deadline to raise the $16.7tn (£10.5tn) limit. President Barack Obama is set to speak shortly at the White House. The deal would extend the federal borrowing limit until 7 February and fund the government to...

Labor unions are poised to score the delay of an ObamaCare tax in the bipartisan budget deal emerging in the Senate. The bargain under negotiation would make small adjustments to the healthcare law, including delaying the law's reinsurance fee for one year. The three-year tax is meant to generate revenue that will stabilize premiums on the individual market as sick patients enter the risk pool. The tax applies to all group health plans, but unions argue it will raise their healthcare costs while providing them no benefit.  The reinsurance tax figured prominently in discussions at a recent AFL-CIO convention, where...

I've felt this speech important enough to make the effort to convert the speech to text for those who don't want to go through the video (It's only 1:21) of the speech by Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan). I've listened to the video many numerous times to assure accuracy of what she says in the video. Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan;) ..that amounts to over 2.5% of the federal budget, find me an American family, a hard working taxpayer who hasn't already cut over 2% of their budget at home without cutting essentials things. There's a fact that says we are going...

Euro MPs prompted uproar last night by plotting to try to block the budget deal using a secret ballot so voters cannot hold them to account. It emerged that they are planning to use a little-understood procedure to allow them to vote in private and defy the 27 EU leaders. Martin Schulz, president of the European Parliament and former leader of its socialist group, suggested a vote on the budget should be conducted in secret to allow MEPs to break away from prime ministers and party leaders and maximize the chances of it being rejected. A vote behind closed doors...

The 2012 political year is right around the corner and the recent failure by the so-called "Super Committee" to reach agreement on $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction will re-cast the environment on Capitol Hill and shape the 2012 campaign. With divided control of Congress, and a 60-vote threshold in the U.S. Senate, major Congressional action before the 2012 election is now extremely unlikely. Congress always seems to need a deadline to make the members focus on the country's business, and December promises to be a busy month. It's likely that members of Congress will do the following: - Pass yet...

The most distressing outcome of the deficit hysteria gripping Washington may be what Barack Obama has revealed about himself. It was disconcerting to watch the president slip-slide so easily into voicing the fallacious economic arguments of the right. It was shocking when he betrayed core principles of the Democratic Party, portraying himself as high-minded and brave because he defied his loyal constituents. Supporters may hope this rightward shift was only a matter of political tactics, but I think Obama has at last revealed his sincere convictions. If he wins a second term, he will be free to strike a truly...

The federal government may have staved off the imminent threat of default Tuesday when President Barack Obama signed a bitterly fought budget deal, but the woes and uncertainty for states have just begun. In California, some of the most likely cuts include nutritional programs for low-income women and children, the federal portion of the controversial high-speed rail project, clean drinking water programs, and subsidies for farmers. Also potentially at risk are federally funded university research projects and military bases, policy-watchers said Tuesday after hastily reviewing the plan to cut national spending by $2.1 trillion over 10 years. None of the...

There is something you should know about the deal to cut federal spending that President Obama signed into law on Tuesday: It does not actually reduce federal spending. By the end of the 10-year deal, the federal debt would be much larger than it is today. Indeed, both the government and its debts will continue to grow faster than the American economy, primarily because the new law does not address federal spending on health care. That is the reason that the ratings agency Standard & Poor’s and its rivals still are threatening to remove the United States from their lists...

The U.S. will hit the borrowing danger zone in far less time than we've been led to believe. This is why the "Maxed Out America" initiative of the PJ Institute demands the immediate attention of the political class and the American people. Washington’s recent budget deal represents at best a tiny baby step in the right direction. What is at stake in the budget battles to come is exponentially higher. This is why the “Maxed Out America” initiative of the PJ Institute demands the immediate attention of the political class and the American people. Everyone knows that an individual or...

...The CBO claims that the $38 billion cut from the discretionary budget will only yield an additional $352 million cut from actual spending in 2011. The method used for reducing the discretionary budget was to move $23 billion to the mandatory spending budget from the discretionary budget. All the other cuts they claimed as part of the deal were already in place or for programs that had money that would not be spent... they reduced the discretionary budget … but did not reduce actual spending.... Boehner, Obama and Reid ... all said that they cut $38 billion dollars out of...

By taking advantage of  “must-pass” pieces of legislation, Republicans have three chances this year to restrain the burden of government.  They didn’t do very well with the ‘CR fight” over appropriated spending for the rest of FY2011, which was their first opportunity. I was hoping for an extra-base hit off the fence, but the GOP was afraid of a government shutdown and negotiated from a position of weakness. As such, the best interpretation is that they eked out an infield single.The next chance to impose fiscal discipline will be the debt limit. Currently, the federal government “only” has the...

The House will vote on the Boehner–White House spending deal this afternoon. Outside of the chamber, Republicans predict that the measure will pass, though numerous defections are expected, according to aides. One tells us that some members will likely watch the clock, waiting until Republicans hit 218, and then vote “nay.” As the vote nears, Tea Party heroes within conference are spoiling for a last-minute rumble. Rep. Allen West (R., Fla.) tells reporters that House GOP leaders bungled the deal. “My leadership needs to sit down and have a ‘come to Jesus’ with [each other],” he says. “Character and integrity...

National Review calls it "strike one" for John Boehner's speakership. The numbers are stunning. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the budget deal for FY 2011 struck by Speaker of the House Boehner, Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Barack Obama will reduce spending by a paltry $352 million.The $38.5 billion spending reduction deal announced late last Friday night by Obama, Boehner and Reid has been exposed upon analysis as smoke and mirrors.A comparison prepared by the CBO shows that the omnibus spending bill, advertised as containing some $38.5 billion in cuts, will only reduce federal outlays by $352 million...