When House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., passed his budget this March, Senate Democrats screamed bloody murder about the fact that it spent $19 billion less than the Budget Control Act that passed last August did.
“This is outrageous and deeply disappointing. House Republicans are reneging on a deal their own speaker shook on less than eight months ago,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said. “Our Republican friends now seem to be walking away from these limits, even though they agreed to them just several months ago,” Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., added.
That is how Democrats feel about legislation that cuts government spending. But what about legislation that spends MORE. Surely there would be equal outrage from Democrats about the violation of the sacred and holy Budget Control Act.
Enter the 21st Century Postal Service Act, which the Congressional Budget Office says will add $34 billion to the deficit by 2022 and spends $11 billion more in 2013 than was agreed to in the BCA None of this new spending is offset anywhere else in the budget. Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., commented yesterday, “At a time when our budget deficit for this year alone will be approximately $1,200 billion, and the General Services Administration is flagrantly wasting taxpayer dollars, we must stop over-spending. The Government Accountability Office has identified $400 billion in annual federal expenditures on programs that are wasteful, inefficient, or duplicative; our task should be easy. The offsets are there to be found—this point of order does not kill the bill, but sends it back to committee and creates an opportunity for the Senate to live up the terms of the August debt deal while controlling wasteful spending elsewhere in the budget.”
It is hard to see how Democrats can vote for this postal bill and still maintain that the spending limits in the Budget Control Act are in any way binding.
Campaign 2012
Romney: Campaigning in South Park, Pa., Romney seized on a AP report finding that half of college graduates either can’t find a job or are underemployed. “On his own measure – people getting good jobs that can pay a mortgage, he’s failed,” Romney said. “It’s time to get a president who can succeed.”
Obama: Obama will pitch his new plan to make student loans cheaper in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, today. As senator, Obama missed votes on the student loan bill he now wants to extend.
Veepstakes: Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., campaigned with Romney in Pa., yesterday. Attacking Obama’s class war rhetoric, Rubio said, “I don’t remember growing up my parents ever saying to me ‘you know why we’re not better off? Because those guys are doing too well.”
Polls: Obama is up three points over Romney in Gallup’s Daily Tracking Poll, 47 percent to 44 percent.
Around the Bigs
The Los Angeles Times, Social Security is slipping closer to insolvency: According to a Social Security Trustee’s report released yesterday, the Social Security trust fund, which will go bankrupt in 2033, three years earlier than estimated in last year’s report.
The Washington Post, For first time since Depression, more Mexicans leave U.S. than enter: According to a report from the Pew Hispanic Center, more Mexicans appear to be leaving the United States for Mexico than the other way around.
The New York Times, Democrats plan to force vote on Arizona immigration law if it’s upheld by court: Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., will hold a hearing today on Arizona’s immigration law, and if it is upheld by the Supreme Court, he will introduce a law requiring federal approval of all state laws that affect immigrants.
The Wall Street Journal, Economic Gloom Deepens Europe’s Political Crisis: Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his cabinet resigned Monday after failing to reach agreement on reducing the country’s budget to meet European guidelines, “underscoring the growing difficulty Europe’s leaders face against a darkening economic picture, massive debts, angry voters and volatile financial markets.”
The New York Times, U.N. Observers Prove Little Deterrent to Syrian Attacks: United Nations observers in Syria are being ignored by Syrian government forces, causing opposition forces to believe it is a “a toothless operation.”
Righty Playbook
The Washington Examiner‘s Michael Barone compares Obama’s economic record with President Reagan’s.
At RedState, Chris Chocola asks, “What Do Solyndra, Mexican Drug Cartels, And Enron Have In Common?”
The Daily Caller‘s Neil Munro flags a Pew study showing that Republicans are more open-minded, better informed than Democrats.
Lefty Playbook
In the latest issue of Playboy, Hugh Hefner accuses Republicans of waging “a war on sex.”
Talking Points Memo‘s Kyle Leighton explains why the “Latino vote isn’t really up for grabs.”
The New York Times Andrew Rosenthal justifies Obama’s use of executive power to bypass Congress.
