House, Senate negotiators reach budget deal

[Gingersnap]

House, Senate negotiators reach budget deal



Video: Senate Budget Committee chairman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) announced that they have reached a bipartisan agreement to prevent a government shutdown in January.

By Lori Montgomery, Updated: Tuesday, December 10, 5:40 PM E-mail the writer
House and Senate negotiators have reached agreement on an $85 billion package to fund the government past Jan. 15, avoid another federal shutdown and end the cycle of budget crises that have dominated Washington for much of the past three years.

The deal did not include a key priority of House Democrats who wanted an extension of long-term benefits for the unemployed. But Democrats said they would continue to press Republicans on the issue in hopes of preventing more than 1 million people from losing their unemployment checks at the end of the month.

Gallery

Senate Budget Committee chairman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) unveiled the deal, which would partially repeal sharp agency spending cuts known as the sequester in fiscal 2014 and 2015.

Those savings would be replaced by roughly $63 billion in other policies, including fee increases for airline travelers, cuts to federal-worker and military pensions and higher payments for federal insurance of private pensions, according to people familiar with the talks.

Ryan and Murray were rushing to file legislation before midnight so the House could vote as soon as Thursday and leave town for the year by the weekend. The Senate, which is scheduled to leave town next week, would vote thereafter.

“I am very proud to stand here today with Chairman Ryan to say that we have broken through the gridlock,” said Murray, calling the agreement “an important step in helping to heal some of the wounds here in Congress and show we can do something without another crisis around the corner.”

Ryan called the deal “a clear improvement on the status quo” that protects the Pentagon from fresh cuts set to hit January and trims the deficit by more than $20 billion over the next decade without raising taxes.

WaPo

[Adam]

This should, and will, be used to beat Ryan over the head come 2016, assuming that he runs. He just gave away the store, stupidly.

[Gingersnap]

This should, and will, be used to beat Ryan over the head come 2016, assuming that he runs. He just gave away the store, stupidly.

It should be used to pull the teeth of the Dems running in '14 and '16. The only message needed in those elections should be that the Pubbies didn't vote for Obamacare and that they had several alternative plans to achieve coverage for the poor but the Dems wouldn't listen.

The Dems screwed the American people and they've been screwing the working person for 15 years.

That's the message.

[Billy Jingo]

It should be used to pull the teeth of the Dems running in '14 and '16. The only message needed in those elections should be that the Pubbies didn't vote for Obamacare and that they had several alternative plans to achieve coverage for the poor but the Dems wouldn't listen.

The Dems screwed the American people and they've been screwing the working person for 15 years.

That's the message.

Show me.

Never mind everyone else, I suppose

[Michele]

"23 billion is a rounding error on the budget, on the debt, on the deficit, on the economy..it's trivial."

[Billy Jingo]

This should, and will, be used to beat Ryan over the head come 2016, assuming that he runs.

I can see the ads now:

"Do you want someone who actually governs in government?"

He's boned.

[Adam]

Show me.

Never mind everyone else, I suppose

Here's just a few:


H.R. 3121.

H.R. 2520.

H.R. 4038.

S. 1099.

Amendment to H.R. 3962.

Roy Blount plan in June of 2009.


You will now, predictably, dismiss these as "not serious" or some such because they fail to include the words "Democrat" or "Obama" in them.

[Norm dePlume]

There you go. Purge Paul Ryan for not being conservative enough. Paul Ryan.

[Lanie]

I applaud everybody willing to work together to prevent a shut-down.

It's truly a Christmas miracle.

[Adam]

Well, I think this is going to wind up biting Ryan in the ass bigtime.

Sen. Jeff Sessions unsuccessful in attempt to stop military retirement cuts; medically retired veterans also impacted

Efforts by Sen. Jeff Sessions to introduce an amendment to stop a cut in military retiree pay failed Tuesday.

Sessions, R-AL, wanted the amendment added to the bipartisan budget deal before the Senate votes on the package today. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., blocked that move, leaving in place the provision to cut the cost of living adjustment by 1 percent below inflation for military retirees younger than 62. The change would fully take effect in 2016.

The Senate voted 54-46 in favor of Reid's procedural move to block the amendment with the vote falling along party lines.

[....]

Sessions suggested replacing the cuts to military retirement with a proposal to remove a loophole that allows illegal immigrants to receive IRS payments through the Additional Child Tax Credit. The IRS is expected to issue some $7.4 billion in ACTC payouts this year; the cuts to military retirement is expected to save $6 billion over the next decade.



Cuts will hurt medically retired military personnel



The cuts will also impact military personnel who are forced to retire early due to combat or service-related injuries, the Pentagon confirmed Tuesday.

Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., said the Department of Defense had confirmed medically retired personnel who were granted full benefits due to injuries or illnesses are among those who will see their payments cut by the bill.

I thought this was a bad deal from the start, almost entirely because, once again, Republicans are foolishly expecting Democrats' empty, always-broken promises to cut in the future for more spending now. I was fairly neutral on the pension cuts when this first came out, because it was supposed to only affect those who had retired after some years in the service, but still relatively young, and would then be going on in the working world. Those people would not really be particularly hurt by this. I was under the impression that this did not affect those who were medically retired, as I understood that to be done through Veterans Affairs rather than DOD. Now that it turns out that this does affect those who often do not have the opportunity to jump into the working world after their service, that changes things for me.

Now this is just a bad deal all the way around. Ryan got nothing out of this but an empty promise, and now it turns out that he has fucked over those who have given the second-highest sacrifice for our country's safety. Whether or not these future COLA adjustments really cause any pain or not, this is politically a very, very bad move. This will undoubtedly be used to beat him over the head in the future, and no one will ever remember that it was entirely Democrats who blocked this fix or that it was almost entirely Democrats who got this thing through.

[Billy Jingo]

Well, I think this is going to wind up biting Ryan in the ass bigtime.





I thought this was a bad deal from the start, almost entirely because, once again, Republicans are foolishly expecting Democrats' empty, always-broken promises to cut in the future for more spending now. I was fairly neutral on the pension cuts when this first came out, because it was supposed to only affect those who had retired after some years in the service, but still relatively young, and would then be going on in the working world. Those people would not really be particularly hurt by this. I was under the impression that this did not affect those who were medically retired, as I understood that to be done through Veterans Affairs rather than DOD. Now that it turns out that this does affect those who often do not have the opportunity to jump into the working world after their service, that changes things for me.

Now this is just a bad deal all the way around. Ryan got nothing out of this but an empty promise, and now it turns out that he has fucked over those who have given the second-highest sacrifice for our country's safety. Whether or not these future COLA adjustments really cause any pain or not, this is politically a very, very bad move. This will undoubtedly be used to beat him over the head in the future, and no one will ever remember that it was entirely Democrats who blocked this fix or that it was almost entirely Democrats who got this thing through.

Why do you think it cannot be fixed? If it is politically unpopular (never mind the almost pathological hypocrisy of the so-called fiscal hawks), then fix it. Congress will (unfortunately) be back next month.

[Adam]

Why do you think it cannot be fixed? If it is politically unpopular (never mind the almost pathological hypocrisy of the so-called fiscal hawks), then fix it. Congress will (unfortunately) be back next month.

I didn't say that it cannot be fixed. I suspect that it will not be fixed, at least not without once again caving in to the Democrats and piling on a whole lot more spending yet again.

But whether it can or will be fixed or not, Ryan is now indelibly inked as an architect of a plan to cut pensions for wounded soldiers, and politically, that's a pretty ugly mark to have.

[Billy Jingo]

I didn't say that it cannot be fixed. I suspect that it will not be fixed, at least not without once again caving in to the Democrats and piling on a whole lot more spending yet again.

But whether it can or will be fixed or not, Ryan is now indelibly inked as an architect of a plan to cut pensions for wounded soldiers, and politically, that's a pretty ugly mark to have.

Perhaps. The Tea Party Republicans are a fickle bunch and politicians go from hero to RINO faster than you can say immigration reform.

[daveman]

Well, I think this is going to wind up biting Ryan in the ass bigtime.





I thought this was a bad deal from the start, almost entirely because, once again, Republicans are foolishly expecting Democrats' empty, always-broken promises to cut in the future for more spending now. I was fairly neutral on the pension cuts when this first came out, because it was supposed to only affect those who had retired after some years in the service, but still relatively young, and would then be going on in the working world. Those people would not really be particularly hurt by this. I was under the impression that this did not affect those who were medically retired, as I understood that to be done through Veterans Affairs rather than DOD. Now that it turns out that this does affect those who often do not have the opportunity to jump into the working world after their service, that changes things for me.

Now this is just a bad deal all the way around. Ryan got nothing out of this but an empty promise, and now it turns out that he has fucked over those who have given the second-highest sacrifice for our country's safety. Whether or not these future COLA adjustments really cause any pain or not, this is politically a very, very bad move. This will undoubtedly be used to beat him over the head in the future, and no one will ever remember that it was entirely Democrats who blocked this fix or that it was almost entirely Democrats who got this thing through.

Yes, Democrats who prefer illegal aliens who defraud the taxpayers over veterans who served and sacrificed for this nation.