Paygo is a joke

[Andy A]

So we aren't paying unemployment benefits because we don't have the money for them ................... did we stop spending money on wars in Afghanistan and Iraq too? :roll:

I think this Senator is being a butt, but he has a valid point - $10 Billion is a drop in the bucket in the federal budget. Why can't we shuffle some stuff around and trim a little pork to find this money?

How about using some of the stimulus money just sitting around? Its a moot point, anyway. Bunning is not dumb. He knew no one would really be denied their unemployment benefits and was just trying to make a valid point.

 

[Bob]

He's not dumb....he's a dumb redneck

 

[Matt J]

[/B]

Really - that is what you have concluded from my discussion on this thread??

This thread is not about a possible tax increase that would keep people from starving. It is about about making sure that our politicians live up to the Paygo law that they just passed. If they want unemployment benefits to continue (and I have no problem with that) and they don't have the money, then cut it from some other wasteful program or pork. :angry:

My point is that principle is still above compassion even in your response.

 

[idlewind]

My point is that principle is still above compassion even in your response.

The debate is not principle over compassion, it is compassion for everyone against compassion for a relative few. Running up the debt hurts our children and grandchildren. Giving money to 10 million people today and borrowing the money to do it hurts 300 million in the future.

 

[30ashopper]

The debate is not principle over compassion, it is compassion for everyone against compassion for a relative few. Running up the debt hurts our children and grandchildren. Giving money to 10 million people today and borrowing the money to do it hurts 300 million in the future.

Short term vs. long term thinking.

 

[BeachSiO2]

Tom Coburn to pull a Jim Bunning?

Update on unemployment benefits and PayGo...From the Politico...

But now, Senate Republicans are lining up to battle Democrats if they try to push through another 30-day extension of the jobless benefits without finding a way to pay for them first.

Leading the charge this time around will likely be Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who has built up far more goodwill with the leadership than has Bunning, the 78-year-old former Major League Baseball pitcher who has a testy relationship with his home-state counterpart, Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.

Coburn said it?s ?highly doubtful? he?d let Democrats quickly pass an extension this week to keep benefits going until May 5 ? if the $10 billion isn?t offset with spending cuts.

Senators are eager to get work done before they leave town at week?s end for a two-week Easter recess. But Coburn says he?ll suffer no heartburn if GOP objections cut into the highly anticipated break.

?It?s doesn?t bother me at all,? Coburn said. ?We?re here to work.?


Tom Coburn to pull a Jim Bunning - Manu Raju - POLITICO.com

Sounds like we'll hear more about this in the coming days unless something starts to move. Who will win the public relations battle this time?

 

[BeachSiO2]

It's official, Congress is going home and there's no extension of unemployment benefits. From The Hill..

Democratic and Republican senators reached an agreement late Thursday to pay for the $9.2 billion cost of a one-week extension. House Democratic leaders, however, balked at the proposal to offset the cost of the package because it would violate a tradition of not counting emergency spending measures against the budget.

Can someone tell me how this issue continues to be an emergency time after time? In a few more days, will it be considered an emergency again and again and again? To me this isn't a Dem vs Repub issue as the Senate developed a bi-partisan solution. This is a mess..

 

[Matt J]

It's official, Congress is going home and there's no extension of unemployment benefits. From The Hill..

Can someone tell me how this issue continues to be an emergency time after time? In a few more days, will it be considered an emergency again and again and again? To me this isn't a Dem vs Repub issue as the Senate developed a bi-partisan solution. This is a mess..

If you don't have money for food or electricity (especially in the north) you might consider it an emergency. Perhaps they should stop by their local GOP headquarters for assistance.

 

[BeachSiO2]

Swgb, I am guessing yours was a drive by post. As I posted, the Senate Dems and Senate GOP had a solution but the House Dems want to keep calling it an "emergency" instead of paying for it. We knew this was coming at least as early as the beginning of March. How long does it take to move from "emergency" to "expected result" of existing program