Yesterday my facebook wall was on fire with Teaparty members disagreeing about  Fridays’ last minute deal. Some believed there were wins. While others were not so happy with what was passed, but all agreed it was good the military gets paid on time.  I think it is also good to point out there was a bit of progress made. After all; the history of offers on this bill went like this: “Democrats first offered no cuts, then $4 billion, then $6.5 billion, then $33 billion, then settled at $38.5 billion.”
and although it did not defund Obamacare, or Planned Parenthood some felt it was a start.
Another fb friend said “We could find 100′s of millions more to cut, and I have no doubt, if we controlled the senate as well as the house more cuts would have happened. But everyone has to understand, we control a little over 1/2 of the House. We have a minority in the Senate. And we have a Democratic White House. Of all the gains we made in the last election, we are still in a bad position, with limited options. Be careful what you ask for. A government shutdown wouldn’t have been the end of the world, but it would have cost us more money, and everyone would have felt effects from it. Keep the pressure on, and move slowly, and carefully back in the right direction “
In an almost an apologetic manner facebookers offered up:  “that when you only control a little over one half of one third, we did pretty good getting with what we did. “  Oh yeah? Lets wait and see if you still feel that way at the end of this article. Before I tell you how I really feel shall we examine the record for ourselves? What exactly did this CR accomplish?
- Our military will get paid. We COULD NOT let our military not get paid. Their first check would’ve been delayed, their next check would be stopped until another deal was made.
- This was a bipartisan agreement on spending cuts to support American job creation.
- It is the LARGEST SPENDING CUT IN AMERICAN HISTORY. This agreement immediately cuts $38.5 billion in federal spending – the largest spending cut in American history in terms of dollars – just months after President Obama asked Congress for a spending “freeze†that would mean zero cuts.
- There are HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS IN SPENDING CUTS which happen save money for the American people. This agreement will cut hundreds of billions of dollars from the federal budget over the next decade – “real money,†as the Wall Street Journal editorial board recently noted.
- It officially ends the “STIMULUS†SPENDING BINGE. This agreement begins to reverse the “stimulus†spending binge that began in 2009
- This agreement also signals the official end of a period of unprecedented government intervention that former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan and other economists say hurt job creation in America by crowding out private investment.
- It set the stage for trillions more in spending cuts because it clears the way for congressional action on House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget – ‘The Path to Prosperity’ – and that in turn cuts trillions in spending and offers a long-term blueprint for American job creation.
- It guarantees a senate vote on the repeal of Obamacare. The agreement reached with Senate Democrats guarantees a Senate debate and vote on legislation that would repeal President Obama’s government takeover of health care in its entirety. The House passed such legislation in January as part of the Pledge to America.
- NEW TOOLS IN THE FIGHT TO REPEAL OBAMACARE. This CR will generate new tools for the fight to repeal Obamacare by requiring numerous studies that will force the Obama Administration to reveal the true impact of the law’s mandates, including a study of how individuals and families will see increased premiums as a result of certain Obamacare mandates; they would have to reveal in a full audit all of the waivers that the Obama Administration has given to firms and organizations – including unions – who can’t meet the new annual coverage limits.
- a full audit of what’s happening with the comparative effectiveness research funding that was in Obamacare and the president’s failed “stimulus†spending bill; and a report on all of the contractors who have been hired to implement the law and the costs to taxpayers of such contracts.
- It denies additional funding to the IRS:  The Obama administration has sought increased federal funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) – money that could be used to hire additional agents to enforce the administration’s agenda on a variety of issues. This increased funding is denied in this recent agreement.
- It guarantees a senate vote & debate on DE-FUNDING PLANNED PARENTHOOD. Â We are talking about a Senate debate and vote on legislation that would end federal funding for Planned Parenthood.
- BANS TAXPAYER FUNDING OF ABORTION IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. The agreement includes a complete ban on federal funding of abortion in the District of Columbia, applying the pro-life principles of the Hyde Amendment (“D.C. Hydeâ€).
- There is also mandatory audits of the new job crushing bureaucracy set up under Senators Dodd-Frank. The agreement subjects the so-called Consumer Financial Protection Bureau created by the job-destroying Dodd-Frank law to yearly audits by both the private sector and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to monitor its impact on the economy, including its impact on jobs, by examining whether sound cost-benefit analyses are being used with rule makings.
This is My Two cents:
All this sounds like good news and it is however If I were to define Speaker Boehner’s performance I would have to say he was too meek. In case you need help understanding what that means; I will attempt to define meek for you. Meek is not a word we use much in the American English language.  It’s meaning is power under control or power which refuses to exert itself on another.  Jesus Christ was meek by choice, out of love. He had all the power to do what he wanted but he did not use it. John Boehner was too meek, and what a disappointment he was to many of us yesterday.  I am not trying to compare the Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner to Jesus Christ.  Jesus meekness is a virtue while for Boehner it is not. Boehner in meekness to the Democrats actually reveals his inadequacy as a leader. Another thing to consider is although there is much good in Paul Ryan’s budget proposal; it won’t pass in its’ original version either because it takes down Obamacare and we’ve seen a preview of the future with the past weeks budget battle. There was a standoff and the republicans in the House blinked.
I agree with you we had to pass something to pay our military and the CR in itself does a lot of good but Boehner had the wrong disposition to begin with. Have you ever watched a standoff? Show even a HINT of weakness and you are done. Boehner used words which reflect his willingness to compromise not just this past week but during the history of his leadership
Let’s face it Boehner is a career politician. Without term limits these politicians worry too much about losing their jobs. Boehner needs to understand his compromise on Planned Parenthood WILL cause him to lose his job. The CR is not such a bad deal. You have to look closely to see where the trouble is, when you do then you see what he did was tip his hand. It’s symbolic of his willingness to give in,  He actually said “this is the BEST we could do” no Mr. Speaker, this is just the same ole way of thinking and you disappoint me sir. I did not put you in power so you could let me down again, and THAT is what is unforgivable and the reason so many are up in arms.
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Special thanks to Robert Brown for contributing to this article
It takes six miles to slow an aircraft carrier down and turn it around. While people have good intentions and high goals, the system is so completely screwed up that it is goind to take numerous efforts and years to undue it.
I’m afraid there will be great economic pain before it is turned around. It will take many years as well. This Congress is not yet ‘serious’ about these budget cuts. The paltry $38.5 Billion dollar cut in this last budget was not even a drop in the bucket to what we need to cut. This is an illustration for you: Let’s say you are spending $1000.00 per day, $7000.00 per week, but you only earn $10.00 per week, and you vow to get serious about your spending, so you cut $38.50 per week spending, and your spouse announced to you they will now be spending $14,000.00 per week. Will the $38.50 cut really make a difference? ( Although the spending problem is something both parties are guilty of, it is the Democrats who failed to pass a budget which was 6 months and 7 days late I might add..and thanks to the Dems since they held the reigns when they failed to pass a budget last year 2010) It’s inevitable…there is a crash coming and I see the train approaching at a mighty speed.
Rosie, you are 100% on. While the shutdown of the government would have been tough, I would have signaled that Boehner was willing to go to the mat to defend what he says he believes in. You’re right, he blinked and he will blink again and for very good reason. Those in Washington DC see that as real life, not understanding that life in DC is no more real than being in college for four years is real in the life of most Americans. All politicians and bureaucrats in DC are sheltered from the the impact of real life. They have “cars” that have “drivers” and if they have a sniffle they go to the “hospital” down the hall in the Capitol building. Their “drivers” park their “cars” in their “parking spaces” and to get them back, they have an “assistant” call for the “car” and “driver”. They don’t pay for “gas” so they don’t feel the impact. They are insulated from the laws they pass. They are waited on hand and foot. They have others pay for everything they need. They have a lifetime retirement package that guarantees them a COLA so, even if we do get impacted by hyperinflation, they will always have plenty of money to pay their bills at the tax payers expense.
But even more important than that is I don’t believe that many in positions of authority have not really grasped the dire implications of where we are financially in this country and at this particular juncture of our economic makeup. We are no longer a manufacturing nation, we don’t have the manufacturing capability we had in the 30′s and 40′s. It wasn’t the government that pulled us out of the last Depression, it was WW II that pulled us out of it and it was done through the ability we had to manufacture what we needed in this country. People keep talking about “jobs” lie we can simply fire up the smokestacks again and put people back to work. Those jobs are now in China, Taiwan, Mexico, Indonesia, and India. Where the hell do people think these jobs are going to come from. That is why the home building and construction industries are so very important to this country. They can’t be exported out of the country. So without the ability to produce what we need and consume, where the hell do people think these jobs are going to come from? We sold our soul to China and we have to get it back.
That being said, if we don’t stop spending more than we produce, we are totally screwed. We are literally on the financial brink in America and the rest of the world WANTS to push us over the cliff. The world is asking us to be responsible adults so they can have faith in us again. If we don’t act responsible (intentions and rhetoric don’t cut it anymore), they will know we are not to be trusted. If they can’t trust us to be adults, then they won’t respect us, if they don’t respect us, they will not support us. Plain and simple. The world may not like us, but if we act like responsible adults instead of spoiled children, then they will respect us. And we will start to respect ourselves again. This is a great country and i have no desire to live in any other, but we have to act great and BE great. Boehner, Reid, Obama, et al are playing games and worry more about remaining in DC than they do being stewards of the responsibility we’ve entrusted to them. If they don’t respect that responsibility, then they need to go.
Gosh what a good point you make! Living in Washington they have no concept of reality. They don’t drive themselves etc…good point. They are not the common man.