Friday, November 15, 2013

The buzz word for the Republicans is "UNSUSTAINABLE DEBT." They dont' see unstainability over a timeline, but, in an emergency to invoke fear in the electorate.

The Republicans are still talking about passing HR 3121. The same law that has been voted on 45 times before.

The CBO states if everything remains the same with the National Budget the debt will be 100% of GDP in 25 years.

In the Budget hearing where the CBO is speaking Ryan is very pessimistic about an agreement and Patty Murray states progress is being made and believes the differences will be resolved in a short period of time.

Ryan states the Budget hearing is very informal and any members of the panel can hold up their names to be recognized to ask questions. Basically, they have to raise their hands. Ryan is a joke. 

This isn't governance. It just isn't. The CBO, Douglas Elmendorf, comes to Congress and treated as if he isn't important. Amazing. 

There is no earnest effort by Ryan to take this seriously. This is obviously just drama. Ryan has no desire to settle into a budget before the deadlines. 

The American people have to take their elections seriously and elect serious individuals who actually care about the country and the voters. We are going to see more of the same come January and February. There are about 10 working days for Congress left this year and when they return in January they will be at the doorstep of the Budget and Debt Ceiling. Ryan is stalling in order to create another crisis. 

The lack of structure of the meeting is met with coping by other Senators in taking example and proceeding. It is causing confusion. 

The Republicans aren't governing. They are refusing to participate. They remind me of a two year old stuck on 'No.' I mean that. There is absolutely no impulsion forward into an agreement. It is all about finding fault and assigning blame. 

At this point, there should not be fact finding missions. At this point the Budget Committee should already have discussed the different budgets, resolved those differences and bringing NOT QUESTIONS before the CBO but the new agreement to make sure it will result in it's goal. 

This is still a fact finding meeting. It is a failure. Ryan is unable to lead. He is capable of a lack attitude that compromises reconciliation. There will be another dramatic Budget deadline followed by another Debt Ceiling deadline. Nothing is being done and it is completely obvious nothing will be done to avoid another fiscal crisis. 

Ryan's leadership is an abject failure. 

This is NOT difficult. This is a minor exercise in governing. Income and expenditures. This is not all that. Ryan can't get it done because he is an ideologue focused on politics. 

The CBO confirms to Senator Sanders there is significant inequality in wealth distribution. Senator Sanders pointed to 36% of the nation's wealth and income goes to the top 1% while the bottom 40% has 2.6% of the nation's wealth and income. 

Senator Sanders states the report by the CBO was absent of contemporary America. Mr. Elmendorf states he has some graphs that illustrates a raw picture of distributional wealth. 

Of course, Senator Sanders knows that when the nation's majority of population are poor, the nation is poor. The income to the treasury is from the nation's tax base. The better Americans receive wealth and income across a broad base the better the income to the Treasury. The point is cutting important monies to bring Americans to a greater level of earning isn't serving the sustainable economy of the USA. 

It is completely obvious the Republicans are running the clock for their own priorities and unable to govern because of those priorities. 

Senator Grassley just lectured everyone. Basically, he said, "The USA needs a strong economy to have a strong military. Dissolving The Sequester in order to spend more on defense is very shortsighted." He stated his remarks particularly are directed at US House of Representatives. 

Senator Warner states it is a global trend that private industry no longer is seeking to train their employees, there is a movement for the public sector train their citizens for employment. 

Senator Graham is back peddling. He has returned to slashing Medicare and Social Security. He wants entitlement reform. SSI is not a budgetary issue. SSI is an autonomous trust that can't be spent on the USA Fiscal Budget. He is worried about 80 million Baby Boomers. 

Chris Van Holen stated the greatest influx to Medicare and Social Security will occur in 10 years realizing that contribution of the tax base will also fall. ?? Maybe ?? to some degree, but, not completely. This generation tends to like to make money one way or another. But, the worst case scenario is correct. Rep. Van Holen also stated the business loop holes are stubbornly persistent and suggested the CBO do an analysis of those loop holes so they can be closed. He was also concerned about the policy ending this year regarding unemployment. Yeah, but, ??? there has been job growth and we aren't looking at a shrinking economy. I don't think we are still in an unemployment emergency, are we? That only justification would be if jobs are being outsourced at a rate detrimental to the employment of Americans. The other aspect one of the other committee members noted was the existing job openings already existing in the USA economy without trained people to fill those openings.

Mr. Elmendorf states he discourages increases in marginal tax rates on overtime pay because it will remove vitality from the economy. Taking those extra monies away from the spending behavior of the nation is a mistake. He  also stated cuts in the budget are not best for the current economy. 

Senator Whitehouse states President's Council on Economic Advisers states there is $700 billion to be saved in the health care industry. He also notes several private independent study groups with the same figure if not more. He wants to know from the CBO how important it is to work on the cost of health care. Mr. Elmendorf states it would assist the federal budget and deficit a great deal to address unproductive spending in health care. Those monies if removed from the health care costs of the nation do not at all effect the quality of the care provided. 

End.