Budget Issues: Hunger Report, Conservation
Lisa Lerer and Manu Raju reported on Friday at Politico that, “Democrats are racing to hash out the details of a jobs bill by a self-imposed Monday deadline — and working overtime to gain the Republican votes they’ll need to pass it.
“Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer and Max Baucus spent Thursday in a flurry of delicate negotiations with Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley and Orrin Hatch , with aides going back and forth on the details of a tax-focused jobs bill.
“The bill has shifted from a sweeping piece of legislation to a smaller, bipartisan bill — loaded up with tax cuts to gain Republican support,” the Politico article said.
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Congressional Agenda
Lori Montgomery reported in today’s Washington Post that, “Congress agreed Thursday to revive the pay-as-you-go budget rules that helped wipe out massive deficits and balance the budget during the Clinton administration, although the new version includes a long list of exceptions that would permit Democrats to add at least $1.5 trillion to the nation’s tab over the next decade.
“The House voted 233 to 187 to approve the rules, known in congressional shorthand as paygo. The rules were adopted last month by the Senate and now go to President Obama for his signature.
“The return to paygo comes as record deficits push the government more deeply into debt than at any time since the 1950s. Democrats attached the new rules to a must-pass measure that raises the legal limit on government borrowing by a record $1.9 trillion. With the public debt expected to hit the current cap by next week, the increase — which was approved on a separate vote, 217 to 212 — authorizes the Treasury Department to continue borrowing to cover the nation’s bills through early next year.”
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Biofuels
John M. Broder reported in today’s New York Times that, “President Obama moved on Wednesday to bolster the nation’s production of corn-based ethanol and other alternative liquid fuels and ordered the rapid development of technology to capture carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of coal.
“The president is trying to expand the portfolio of American energy sources to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, a factor in global warming, and spur advances in alternative technologies. Last week he expressed support in his State of the Union address for increased generation of nuclear power and offshore drilling for oil and gas.
“Mr. Obama’s motives are environmental, economic and political. He is trying to address climate change by replacing dirty fuels with cleaner sources, jump-start an American clean-energy industry, reduce dependence on foreign oil and attract Republican votes for legislation to do all three.”
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Budget: Reactions to Executive Branch Agricultural Proposals
Bloomberg writer Alan Bjerga reported earlier this week that, “U.S. Department of Agriculture spending would rise 2.3 percent to $132.3 billion in fiscal 2011 as the number of people receiving aid to buy groceries, the USDA’s biggest expense, reaches records, the government said.
“The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly called food stamps, will cost $75.3 billion in the year starting Oct. 1, up 3.9 percent from this year, accounting for most of the overall increase, according to the budget President Barack Obama sent to Congress today. Agricultural subsidies would fall 11 percent as the administration tries to limit payments to wealthy farmers.
“A record 37.9 million people, or about one of every eight Americans, received food stamps in October, as the jobless rate reached a 26-year high, the USDA said on Jan. 12. Participation in the program that month was up 22 percent from a year earlier, setting a record for the 11th straight month.”
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Budget: General Overview
An update posted yesterday at CQPolitics reported that, “President Obama proposed a $3.8 trillion fiscal 2011 budget Monday that administration officials are touting as a prescription for both adding jobs to the economy and reducing deficits over the next decade [See: “Remarks by the President on the Budget,” transcript, video].
“Obama proposed $1.16 trillion in discretionary spending, not including military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. That would be a 2.7 percent increase over the $1.13 trillion set to be spent in fiscal 2010.”
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