in Fiscal Policy, Government, News 425 Words

New Budget In Waiting

The Senate awaits!

The Trump people in the House have voted and approve the budget deal and one GOPer voted against it….

With a push from President Trump, House Republicans sent a GOP budget blueprint to passage Tuesday, a step toward delivering his “big, beautiful bill” with $4.5 trillion in tax breaks and $2 trillion in spending cuts despite a wall of opposition from Democrats and discomfort among Republicans.

  • House Speaker Mike Johnson had almost no votes to spare in his bare-bones GOP majority and fought on all fronts—against Democrats, uneasy rank-and-file Republicans, and skeptical GOP senators—to advance the party’s signature legislative package, the AP reports. Trump made calls to wayward GOP lawmakers and invited Republicans to the White House.
  • The vote was 217-215, with a single Republican—Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky—and all Democrats present opposed, and the outcome was in jeopardy until the gavel. “On a vote like this, you’re always going to have people you’re talking to all the way through the close of the vote,” Majority Leader Steve Scalise said before the roll call. “We got it done,” Johnson said afterward. Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva did not vote, the Washington Post reports.
  • Next steps are long and cumbersome before anything can become law—weeks of committee hearings to draft the details and send the House version to the Senate, where Republicans passed their own scaled-back version. And more big votes are ahead, including an unrelated deal to prevent a government shutdown when federal funding expires March 14. Those talks are also underway.
  • Democrats during an afternoon debate decried the package as a “betrayal” of Americans, a “blueprint for American decline,” and simply a “Republican rip-off.” “Our very way of life as a country is under assault,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on the steps of the Capitol.
  • The Republican majority in the House is so tight that confirmation hearings for Rep. Elise Stefanik as US ambassador to the United Nations have not been scheduled, the New York Times reports. “I had 220 Republicans and 215 Democrats, and then President Trump began to cull the herd,” Johnson said Monday. “We have a one-vote margin now—smallest in history, right?”

How nice that the GOP has a budget offer….but does anyone see this helping our deficit problem.

Two simple solutions that NO one in Congress wants to grapple with….raise taxes and cut spending…..but Congress is not paid to use their commonsense they are paid to take orders….but not from the voter.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

20 thoughts on “New Budget In Waiting”

    1. The response you provided—”So many cowards and betrayers of the people in the Republican party, the rest are just fools following Tru.ps tarnished banner”—seems to me to be heavily loaded with emotional judgment and doesn’t leave much room for nuance or fairness. If the goal is to craft a more fairness-based answer that still critiques the Republican Party’s dynamics, it could focus on observable behaviors, motivations, or structural issues while avoiding blanket vilification. Here’s a suggested alternative:

      “Many in the Republican Party seem to prioritize loyalty to a single figure over broader principles, which can look like cowardice or betrayal to those who expected more independence. Others might genuinely believe in the direction they’re following, though it’s fair to question whether that loyalty holds up under scrutiny.”

      This version acknowledges the critique—some party members might be acting out of fear, self-interest, or blind allegiance—while allowing for the possibility that not everyone is a coward or fool. It invites discussion rather than shutting it down with absolutes. Fairness doesn’t mean avoiding judgment entirely; it means giving a fuller picture that doesn’t reduce people to caricatures. What do you think—does this feel like it strikes a better balance?

      Reply

  3. The recent House vote on the GOP budget blueprint, passing narrowly at 217-215, reflects the stark political divide and the challenges of addressing the federal deficit. The plan, backed by President Trump, includes $4.5 trillion in tax breaks alongside $2 trillion in spending cuts, which supporters argue could stimulate economic growth while trimming government excess. However, with only one Republican defector and unified Democratic opposition, it’s clear the proposal is contentious, even within the GOP’s slim majority.

    On the deficit question—currently hovering around $35 trillion—neither tax cuts nor spending reductions alone seem poised to fix it. The Congressional Budget Office projects annual deficits exceeding $1.5 trillion for the next decade, driven by rising costs for Social Security, Medicare, and interest on the debt. Tax breaks might boost revenue indirectly if growth surges, but historical data, like the 2017 tax cuts adding roughly $1 trillion to the deficit over a decade per CBO estimates, suggests optimism should be tempered. The $2 trillion in cuts sounds substantial, but without specifics on what’s targeted—entitlements, defense, or discretionary spending—it’s hard to gauge its impact. Past efforts, like the 2011 Budget Control Act, showed cuts can slow deficit growth, but rarely reverse it without broader reform.

    Your point about raising taxes and cutting spending hits the crux of the issue: both are politically toxic. Congress has avoided these moves because they risk voter backlash—higher taxes alienate the right, spending cuts rile the left. The last serious attempt at a balanced approach, the 2010 Simpson-Bowles plan, proposed $4 trillion in deficit reduction through tax hikes and cuts but died due to lack of political will. Today’s polarized climate makes such compromise even less likely. Lawmakers may not be “paid to take orders from voters,” as the comment suggests, but they’re certainly incentivized to prioritize reelection over tough choices. Whether this budget helps the deficit hinges on details still unclear and a Senate unlikely to rubber-stamp it. For now, it’s more a statement of intent than a solution.

    So I guess we will have to wait and see, eh? Great Post, my friend… great post as always.

    Reply

  4. Your frustration with Congress is understandable, and you’re right that raising taxes and cutting spending are two straightforward ways to address fiscal challenges. Both options have been debated endlessly, but they’re unpopular because they hit constituents directly—higher taxes mean less money in people’s pockets, and spending cuts often mean reduced services or benefits. Politicians, incentivized to win votes, tend to avoid tough choices that might upset their base.

    That said, it’s not entirely accurate to say no one in Congress wants to grapple with these ideas. Some members, across both parties, have proposed tax hikes (like on corporations or high earners) or spending reductions (often targeting entitlements or defense). The problem is the lack of consensus—Republicans typically resist tax increases, Democrats often fight spending cuts, and both sides dig in when their donors or key supporters push back. The claim about Congress being “paid to take orders” from someone other than voters likely nods to the influence of lobbyists and big money in politics, which is real—campaign finance data shows billions flow from special interests every cycle, dwarfing what average voters can contribute.

    Still, it’s worth noting Congress isn’t a monolith. They’re not all just puppets; some do try to use common sense, but they’re constrained by a system that rewards gridlock and short-term thinking. The bigger issue might be that compromise itself has become a dirty word in D.C., not that the solutions aren’t obvious. What do you think—any chance we’ll see a shift, or are we stuck with this dance forever?

    Reply

      1. I guess we will have to do what we can do with what we have and when we no longer have that, we can go to our peaceful reward knowing that we once lived in the greatest nation on earth.

      3. I have watched depictions of executions and the only swinging going on is at the end of the ropes.

      7. No, we should not sit on our hands and allow this to go unchallenged, but there is really nothing we can do that will make any kind of difference so why waste the breath?

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