Tag: Budget Cuts

Trump’s Rescission

NO!  I did not misspell the word RECESSION.

Rescission means a budgetary game played by a president.

Our Little Donny has played that card for the first time in many years….

President Trump has told House Speaker Mike Johnson that he won’t be spending $4.9 billion in congressionally approved foreign aid, reports the AP, effectively cutting the budget without going through the legislative branch. Trump, who sent a letter to Johnson on Thursday, is using what’s known as a pocket rescission—when a president submits a request to Congress to not spend approved funds toward the end of the fiscal year, so that Congress cannot act on the request in the 45-day timeframe and the money goes unspent as a result. It’s the first time in nearly 50 years a president has used one. The fiscal year closes at the end of September.

The letter was posted Friday morning on the X account of the White House Office of Management and Budget. It said the funding would be cut from the State Department and the US Agency for International Development, or USAID, an early target of Trump’s efforts to cut foreign aid. The last pocket rescission was in 1977 by then-President Jimmy Carter, and the Trump administration argues that it’s a legally permissible tool. But such a move, if standardized by the White House, could effectively bypass Congress on key spending choices and potentially wrest some control over spending from the House and the Senate.

The 1974 Impoundment Control Act gives the president the authority to propose canceling funds approved by Congress. Congress can vote on pulling back the funds or sustaining them, but by proposing the rescission so close to Sept. 30 the White House ensures that the money won’t be spent and the funding lapses. Trump had previously sought to get congressional backing for rescissions and succeeded in doing so in July when the House and the Senate approved $9 billion worth of cuts. Those rescissions clawed back funding for public broadcasting and foreign aid. The Trump administration on Wednesday appealed to the Supreme Court to stop lower court decisions that have preserved foreign aid, including for global health and HIV and AIDS programs, that Trump has tried to freeze.

This should not be surprising….I mean Donny will not help his own people, the poor, the sick or the elderly….why would he help anyone else, right?

I Read, I Write, You KNow

“lego ergo scribo”

Is FEMA doomed?

I live in a hurricane zone and we have had many but a couple of real devastating storms, Camille and Katrina, and we got a lot of aid and help from FEMA…..and we are not alone anywhere that there was a major disaster whether it be hurricanes, floods, etc FEMA was there to lend a helping hand….but thanx to your clueless leader that type of help may be ending…..

A few folks have taken it upon themselves to try and let the country know what danger are lurking in the Trump Administration….

Days before the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, FEMA employees have issued a stark warning to Congress: the Trump administration’s cuts could leave the nation dangerously unprepared for the next major disaster. In a letter dubbed the “Katrina Declaration,” 182 current FEMA staffers criticized White House plans to shrink the agency and shift disaster response duties—and costs—to the states. The employees argue that such moves risk not only FEMA’s future, but also the readiness of the nation to handle large-scale emergencies, per the New York Times. “Decisions made by the current administration,” they wrote, could lead to “the effective dissolution of FEMA itself and the abandonment of the American people.”

Among the grievances: the Trump administration’s appointment of two acting FEMA chiefs lacking emergency management experience, new spending rules that have slowed FEMA’s disaster response, and the elimination of billions of dollars in grants aimed at disaster preparedness. Additionally, survivors now must provide email addresses to access FEMA aid, a hurdle for those with limited internet. The letter’s signatories argue the Trump administration is blatantly ignoring requirements of the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act, including a provision preventing the Homeland Security secretary from interfering with FEMA. Most signed anonymously, fearing retaliation. Nearly 140 EPA employees were put on leave following a similar letter of dissent last month, per the Washington Post.

Trump is the kiss of death for FEMA and in return the kiss of death for people affected by a disaster……and transferring the cost to the states is a stupid idea for most of those effected are dirt poor and cannot afford the programs they have now.

So the heart-less SOB in DC will make damn sure that people suffering continues and will buy another gold ornament for his fireplace.

Side note:  i heard that 30+ employees of FEMA have been put on leave for criticizing the agency.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–16Jan24

Anybody that follows politics knows the GOP truly hates any of our safety programs….all social benefits is always on the drawing board for cuts.

In the past there have some really comical words that have fallen out of the mouths of Repubs to try and justify the ending of social programs….but recently the idiot from Florida, Gaetz, made a statement that I truly found hilarious if it were not so blatantly anti human.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) said Monday that he wants “deeper cuts” to the Department of Health and Human Services to “save the American people.”

This Is A Must Read!

(Sorry John this is a day late)

With the shutdown once again looming on the horizon the GOP has done what it always does….offer massive cuts in all social programs.

My friend John at Liming’s Lynkx has provided a look at this barbaric attack on the American people…..and the link he provides…

Right Wing Republicans Going After Critical Safety Net Programs Once Again

When will Americans wake up to the barbarity of the GOP and their hatred of the American people?

What say you?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Should The Pentagon Be Worried?

I know I have bitched a bunch about the budget that the Pentagon gets every year…..while most programs and departments are seeing their cash flow lessen the Pentagon see an increase and without much trying on their part.

Now that we have a new Speaker he has promised to take some of their money back to help balance the budget.

After days of negotiations, Rep. Kevin McCarthy is considering cutting the Pentagon budget by $75 billion in order to gain the support of roughly two dozen Republicans who have opposed his bid to become speaker of the House, according to Bloomberg. 

The cut is reportedly part of an “emerging deal” that would cap government spending at 2022 levels, meaning that it would return defense spending to $782 billion — a sharp drop from this year’s allotment of $857 billion.

According to Andrew Lautz, Director of Federal Policy at National Taxpayers Union and regular RS contributor, this could end up being a bigger cut than people think.

“I would argue the cut would be larger than $75 billion. That’s a $75 billion cut relative to FY 2023 levels. CBO is not out with their new baseline yet but I imagine they’re now projecting a larger than $857 billion national defense topline for FY 2024,” Lautz wrote in an email after this story broke. “Relative to that new expectation, a $782 billion flat FY 2024 topline might be closer to an $100 billion cut.”

If any deal does go through, it would still represent one of the largest single-year reductions in the Pentagon’s budget in history. But that is, of course, a big “if.” It remains unclear whether the agreement will be enough to end days of battles in the House over who will serve as speaker, and it’s far from certain that McCarthy will have the power to ensure that such dramatic cuts are actually enacted. 

The proposal could earn support from some progressives in Congress, including Reps. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), who pitched a $100 billion haircut for the Department of Defense earlier this year. But it will no doubt face serious headwinds from more hawkish members of Congress, especially given that this year’s Pentagon budget boost easily passed both the House and Senate, and progressives are unlikely to go along with the idea of across-the-board budget cuts.

McCarthy weighing $75B defense budget cut in quest for speakership (update)

Personally I do not seeing this attempt going anywhere….while I would agree with this cut in funding I think that Congress is in the pockets of the defense industry too far for it to be successful.

I want to see how the Dems handle this proposal….my bet is they will help shoot it down.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Time To Cut Defense Budget

The Pentagon is bloated and needs to be knocked down a notch.

Really?

Yes the defense budget is $740 billion only the Social Security has a larger budget……

We have endless wars and endless military waste…it is beyond time for the Pentagon get a haircut.

The devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout provide ample reason to reconsider what truly constitutes national security.

Such a reassessment is long overdue. Despite the trillions of dollars Congress and successive administrations have lavished on the Pentagon since the turn of the century, the massive U.S. arsenal and fighting force deployed worldwide are powerless against grave, nonmilitary threats to national security—from a raging pandemic to the fact that tens of millions of Americans breathe foul air, drink tainted water, and struggle to pay for food, housing and health care.

When it comes to U.S. spending priorities, the numbers seem especially misguided in an era of tight budgets to come. By the Department of Defense’s own accounting, taxpayers spent $13.34 trillion on the U.S. military from 2000 through fiscal year 2019 in inflation-adjusted 2020 dollars. Add to that another $3.18 trillion for the Veterans Administration, and the yearly average comes to a whopping $826 billion.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/its-time-to-rein-in-inflated-military-budgets/

Of course the Pentagon will issue reports that point to the need for more and more cash….the cycle never stops and their budget gets more and more bloated….

Many of the steps that can be taken to reduce the Pentagon budget now are contained in a new letter to key members of Congress from a coalition of over two dozen groups from across the political spectrum (my organization, the Center for International Policy, is a signatory of the letter). The letter outlines roughly $80 billion in proposed savings in the Fiscal Year 2022 budget, including cancelling additional purchases of the F-35 combat aircraft ($11.4 billion in savings); eliminating the Space Force ($500 million to $2.5 billion in savings); reducing service contracting by 15% ($28.5 billion in savings); canceling the Pentagon’s new ICBM program, formally known as the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent, or GBSD ($400 million to $2.4 billion in savings); and eliminating the Pentagon’s slush fund, the Overseas Contingency Operations account ($20 billion in savings).

https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamhartung/2021/03/24/theres-plenty-of-room-to-reduce-the-pentagon-budget/

This waste needs to be curtailed…..and it can be but it will take guts to stand in opposition to the Pentagon…..

Reducing the Pentagon budget – once a non-starter in official Washington – has a growing constituency in Congress and with the broader public, and for good reason. The greatest challenges we face as a nation – pandemics, climate change, racial and economic injustice, white supremacy, and the rise of global authoritarianism – are not military in nature and overspending on the Pentagon won’t help resolve them. It’s time to rethink what constitutes security rather than relying on the same old arguments for sustaining the status quo of a militarized foreign policy and a bloated Pentagon budget.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamhartung/2021/02/16/three-reasons-to-reduce-pentagon-spending—now/

This country needs a lot of work and we need to stop our continuing adventurism internationally……time to shutdown out of control military spending.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Screw Service People!

Closing Thought–21Aug20

The Congress and Trump have just approved the new massive Defense Budget…..with the help of Democrats I might add…..and now with all the cash for new weapons and such the attack will be on the miltary health care…..

Shortly after both chambers of Congress approved a $740 billion Defense Department budget for fiscal year 2021, Pentagon officials are reportedly pushing for more than $2 billion in cuts to military healthcare over the next five years, potentially threatening the coverage of millions of personnel and their families amid a global pandemic.

Politico reported Sunday that the proposed $2.2 billion cut to the military healthcare system is part of a “sweeping effort” by Defense Secretary Mark Esper to “eliminate inefficiencies within the Pentagon’s coffers.”

“Ever notice that it’s never a cut to things used to send kids to war?” asked Josh Moon of the Alabama Political Reporter. “It’s always—always—a cut to the promises we make to get them to volunteer for us. What a disgrace.”

According to Politico, “Esper and his deputies have argued that America’s private health system can pick up the slack” for any servicemembers who lose coverage.

“Roughly 9.5 million active-duty personnel, military retirees, and their dependents rely on the military health system, which is the military’s sprawling government-run healthcare framework that operates hundreds of facilities around the world,” Politico noted. “The military health system also provides care through TRICARE, which enables military personnel and their families to obtain civilian healthcare outside of military networks.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/17/what-disgrace-pentagon-weighing-22-billion-cuts-military-healthcare-just-after

This is one of the “entitlements” that is promised to the serving military and their families

Recently I read about the poor condition of military hospitals…..

Incredible waste is, of course, natural to Washington, particularly in the trillion dollar national security budget—which includes nuclear bombs, intelligence, and veterans’ costs. Three years ago, when I suggested “16 Ways to Cut Defense Spending,” one of the cost savings I wrote about was duplicative hospital costs, this from a system of separate Army, Navy, and Air Force medical services. They should be combined into a single system, but imagine the screaming about lost jobs.

The system was designed after World War I, when wounded could not be easily transported from one part of America to another and long before helicopters and super highways. It is part of the Tricare network, which takes nearly $50 billion yearly out of the Pentagon budget. It includes 55 hospitals and 373 clinics and gives free treatment to military retirees and their families for the rest of their lives. Then there is also the Veterans Administration hospital network with 152 medical centers and almost 800 outpatient clinics.

Why Military Hospitals Are Unhealthy and Inefficient

This is unacceptable…we ask so much from our troops and their families then we should hold good our promises to them…whatever that may be.

This is shameful on so many levels and no American seems willing to speak up…..

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Gimme Your Money!

Closing Thought–23Oct18

Our Dear Supreme Leader’s infamous tax cuts have exploded the deficit…..

Thanks in large part to Republican tax breaks for the wealthy and big corporations, the latest tallies are jaw-dropping.

The U.S. budget deficit is reaching levels that are abnormally high for a robust economy, and lawmakers from both parties are proposing ideas that would make the deficit swell even further.

The government spent $895 billion more than it brought in from taxes and other revenue sources during the past 11 months, the Congressional Budget Office said this week, a 33 percent increase from one year before.

Even the Supreme Leader was shocked and he has a plan to lessen the deficit……

President Trump instructed his cabinet secretaries Wednesday to reduce their departmental spending by 5 percent or more next year.

“Some of you will say, ‘Hey, I can do much more than five,’” Trump said at a Cabinet meeting.

……after the U.S. Treasury reported that the budget deficit hit a 6-year high of $779 billion in fiscal year 2018. The 17 percent year-over-year increase in the deficit was driven in large part by the tax cuts pushed through Congress by Republicans late last year, along with a $300 billion increase in spending for this year and next.

The Trump administration has been hinting recently that it would seek to cut spending for fiscal 2020, with Kevin Hassett, chairman of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers, saying last week that “deficit is absolutely higher than anyone would like” and that “you’ll see a much more aggressive stance” soon as far as the budget is concerned.

(yahoo news)

Will that include the Pentagon?  If so we can kiss that new Space Force good-bye for now.

I have a feeling that the Pentagon will be exempt.

Now watch the game that the GOP will start about Social Security, Medicare, etc……it is always the fault of so-called “entitlements” that explode the deficit…not the mindless policies of the GOP (that is sarcasm)…..

The Day Diplomacy Died

There is no secret that I am a liberal….and no I am not talking about some political BS (so you mental midgets on the Right can hold your twisted tongues) in this case I am referring to a theory of international relations which states…..

Liberalism emphasizes that the broad ties among states have both made it difficult to define national interest and decreased the usefulness of military power. Liberalism developed in the 1970s as some scholars began arguing that realism was outdated. Increasing globalization, the rapid rise in communications technology, and the increase in international trade meant that states could no longer rely on simple power politics to decide matters. Liberal approaches to international relations are also called theories of complex interdependence. Liberalism claims the following:

  • The world is a harsh and dangerous place, but the consequences of using military power often outweigh the benefits. International cooperation is therefore in the interest of every state.
  • Military power is not the only form of power. Economic and social power matter a great deal too. Exercising economic power has proven more effective than exercising military power.
  • Different states often have different primary interests.
  • International rules and organizations can help foster cooperation, trust, and prosperity.

That also means that I believe that diplomacy is the best way to deal with conflicts than the use of military might be only the last resort.

The title says “the day diplomacy died” and I use it with good reason…..

The Trump administration is proposing a 37 percent spending cut for the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), according to multiple reports.

U.S. officials say the suggested decrease would likely require laying off employees, including security contractors at diplomatic facilities overseas, The Associated Press said Tuesday.

The AP said development assistance would likely take the biggest hit, citing officials familiar with the proposal.

(thehill.com)

This move will seriously injure the State Department and its efforts internationally.

In essence this could kill any and all diplomatic missions around the globe…..the State Department will not be needed….so turn over all international situations over to the Defense Department…..and we can settle all disputes with our military might.

Without the influence of the US in diplomatic situations the hegemony will go to those that use diplomacy over military……our so-called “exceptionalism” will be greatly diminished.

And not to mention the harm this could do to our national security…….

Source: President Trump’s Proposed Budget Is Bad for U.S. National Security – Center for American Progress

This is all a purposed policy change……we can only hope that sanity will return to the process…..but I have my doubts.

When Is Too Many Too Many?

With every incoming president there is the endless promises of budget cuts and easing of the deficit…..and almost always one of the first issues is the closing of military bases….of course the Congress people will protect the ones in their district because it is worth billions to keep them open.

Sadly there needs to be some reality injected into that debate…..and an opinion piece has been written and a realistic look at this issue……

Members of Congress have a hard time agreeing on virtually anything, and they’re already butting heads with the new president. But one issue should unite them: a new initiative to shrink the Pentagon’s massive overhead.

President Trump and Secretary of Defense James Mattis have pledged to cut waste. And key leaders in Congress have renewed their calls for rationalizing the Pentagon’s base structure. Now is the time for Congress to come together, put the national interest over parochial interests and finally support a new round of base closings.

Source: America Has Too Many Military Bases | The National Interest Blog

Anyone that comes here knows my feelings on this…..but in case you are new reader…I do not see why some of these bases cannot be closed….even some of the ones overseas….we have our troops stretched to the limit as it is…..plus the Pentagon budget never takes a hit….most times it is increased at the expense of other need programs….time for some realism in our approach to this situation….