Sponsored Content




Intermarkets' Privacy Policy
Support





























































« Reid Pays Off Hispanics For Putting Him Back Into Office By Pushing Four (Four!) Different Versions of DREAM Act | Main | In Case You Missed It: Curtis Got Slapped!!! »
December 02, 2010

Hmmm: Boehner, Cantor, Ryan Proposing Big Changes In Appropriations Processes Intended To Make It Harder To Spend And Easier To Cut

Process-type stuff is sometimes a fig leaf, a way to avoid talking about substantive issues which are too politically hot to touch.

On the other hand, that's their advantage, too: If you change the rules to make it hard to spend and easier to cut, you can always run back to voters upset by hot-button cuts with the (semi-true) excuse: "The rules made me do it; my hand was forced." Controlling the rules usually means controlling the outcome.

Is this a fig leaf, then, or a legitimate attempt to change how Washington does its spending business? Hard to tell based on a brief story, but Republicans make it sound good at least.

House Republicans seem intent on blowing up the staid appropriations process when they take power in January — potentially upending the old bulls in both parties who have spent decades building their power over the federal budget.

The plans include slicing and dicing appropriations bills into dozens of smaller, bite-size pieces — making it easier to kill or slash unpopular agencies. Other proposals include statutory spending caps, weekly votes on spending cuts and other reforms to ensure spending bills aren’t sneakily passed under special rules.

On some level, their plans may create a sense of organized chaos on the House floor — picture dozens of votes on dozens of federal program cuts and likely gridlock on spending bills. And don’t forget that a lot of these efforts will die with a Democratic-led Senate and a Democrat in the White House.

But the intent is to force debate as much as to actually legislate — and make Old Guard Republicans and Democrats uncomfortable with a new way of thinking about the size and scope of government.

"Forcing debate" is not the same as "achieving results," so that right there constitutes a lowering of the bar for success. I think Tea Partiers will welcome a forcing of debate -- but only if it leads to results.

Still, it's a good thing that the right people are distressed by this:

Insiders who have made a living under the old system are sure to push back, and many fear that Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) may not understand what he is doing.

“John should talk with the professional appropriators about the complexities, rather than talk off the top of his head. His plans would take a huge amount of the House’s time, but what would it accomplish?” said a dubious former House Republican member of the Appropriations Committee who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Did you catch those two give-the-game-away words? Captain Ed did. "Professional appropriators?"

A former Democratic professional appropriator is also butthurt:

“On the practical side, it has to be nuts. Given the difficulty in passing the current bills, adding these changes would be a dream world. ... There could be a revolt by members, who will want to get home and campaign.”

It's good to know that professional appropriators all want to leave the office early and go home. And are willing to pork up bills to get easy votes so they can have more fishin' time.

Paul Ryan will be pushing for spending caps on all elements of government, and further, he doesn't want these to be mere rules of the House, but rather binding statutory rules.

In particular, he is intent on firm spending caps, which would require the Senate and president to agree to new federal law. Ryan added that he wants spending caps to cover defense as well as domestic programs.

This stuff seems somewhat tepid. It doesn't have the power of announcing which parts of government will be cut and by how much. And if these guys can't even propose such stuff, can't even dare to state the specific cuts intended, how can they ever come into being?

However, sometimes rule changes can force paradigm shifts, so that it becomes easier to announce sweeping cuts which apparently they currently can't agree to.

This isn't great, but it's not bad, either. It's not a finished house; not even close. But at least it's a bit of ground-breaking and a bit of concrete-pouring.



digg this
posted by Ace at 12:37 PM

| Access Comments




Recent Comments
Beartooth : "Coworker fosters momma cats and kittens. He lived ..."

wth: "SAVE THE BEANS ..."

sharon(willow's apprentice): "SiD, you're just saying that because you're my fri ..."

Ben Had: "That little kid in the box is pure joy. ..."

FenelonSpoke: " cafe bats are cute, but I wouldn't want to get cl ..."

[/i][/b]andycanuck (Vwz3I)[/s][/u]: "Okay, so it was a pretty lame attempt at a joke bu ..."

gourmand du jour: "Tomorrow I'm off for a Big Adventure. I've alread ..."

[/i][/b]andycanuck (Vwz3I)[/s][/u]: "Quote Tweet: Steve Herman @W7VOA · 37m "Lowe ..."

AZ deplorable moron: "Best of Breed and third in the Hound Group for Mis ..."

Lamontyoubigdummy: "...when Fetterman actually sounds better than Bide ..."

FenelonSpoke: "Very cute lamb And here's my latest report on " ..."

Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden: "Here and I thought Ace was going to live blog the ..."

Recent Entries
Search


Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Top Top Tens
Greatest Hitjobs

The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon
A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates
Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny
More Margaret Cho Abuse
Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny
Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman
Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format
John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia
World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading
Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree
Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears
Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed"
Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility
Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips
They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan
Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq
Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town
When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool
What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
Powered by
Movable Type 2.64