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shadowkatWhy is Wednesday plotting a coup? Well, this bugger passed the House
I decided to read it. [And got a headache. Legislators and lawyers have mastered the art of passive aggressive and evasive writing. They find ways to give themselves power - by making it as vague as possible, with lots of wiggle room. In short? It's open to interpretation and all you need is to have the right person interpret it. I'm reminded of why I disliked law school? I do read stuff like this for a living though and have been taught how to analyze and interpret it.] They are right, it doesn't mention Medicaid at all. It didn't cut Social Security or Medicare - as far as I can tell. But it did decrease the spending for them. However, Medicaid falls under the Committees expected to cut services, and so they conceivably do it under this bill. Also, it did cut taxes to the wealthy.
Outtakes:
*(a) "In general.—In the House of Representatives, the chair of the Committee on the Budget may revise the allocations of a committee or committees, aggregates, and other appropriate levels in this resolution for any bill or joint resolution considered pursuant to section 2001 containing the recommendations of one or more committees, or for one or more amendments to, a conference report on, or an amendment between the Houses in relation to such a bill or joint resolution, by the amounts necessary to accommodate the budgetary effects of the legislation, if the budgetary effects of the legislation comply with the reconciliation instructions under this concurrent resolution." [Basically they have the power to make cuts as needed.]
TITLE IV—Policy Statements, SEC. 4001. Policy statement on economic growth, paragraph 2:
"The free market, where individuals pursue their own self-interests, has been responsible for greater advancements in quality of life and generation of wealth than any other form of economic system. Federal policies designed to grow the economy should thus allow market forces to operate unhindered rather than pick “winners” and “losers”."
Reliable analyses of the bill and reports on it's passage:
* House Passed a Budget Blueprint - What Happens Now
* Senate Budget Resolution vs. House
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise plans to bring up the House's budget resolution to the floor next week. Whether it can pass quickly is another story.
In order to appease members of the Freedom Caucus, House GOP leaders made adjustments to their resolution that would direct up to $2 trillion in spending cuts, with a large chunk likely coming from Medicaid.
Both chambers are using the budget resolution as part of a process called reconciliation — a budget tool that will enable Republicans to pass large swaths of Trump's agenda without any Democratic support. Importantly, both chambers ultimately need to pass the same resolution.
The 2017 tax cuts that congressional Republicans want to renew expire at the end of 2025 — a looming deadline for both chambers.
* House Republicans Pass the Budget Bill - note all the Democrats voted against, only one Republican voted against but for only because it didn't cut deeply enough.
* American Hospital Association - House Passes Budget Resolution Potentially Impacting Medicaid
* AP News House Budget Bill Passes - per usual - AP News is the most reliable of the news sources.
Even as they press ahead, Republicans are running into a familiar problem: Slashing federal spending is typically easier said than done. With cuts to the Pentagon and other programs largely off limits, much of the other government outlays go for health care, food stamps, student loans and programs relied on by their constituents.
Several Republican lawmakers worry that scope of the cuts being eyed — particularly some $880 billion over the decade to the committee that handles health care spending, including Medicaid, for example, or $230 billion to the agriculture committee that funds food stamps — will be too harmful to their constituents back home.
GOP leaders insist Medicaid is not specifically listed in the initial 60-page budget framework, which is true. Johnson and his leadership team also told lawmakers they would have plenty of time to debate the details as they shape the final package.
But lawmakers wanted assurances the health care program and others will be protected as the plans are developed and merged with the Senate in the weeks to come.
* BBC on the House Bill Passing - this is general in content, and posted just to see how the international media is reporting on it.
***
In other unrelated news? Michelle Trachenberg has died at the age of 39, best known for her roles in Harriet the Spy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Gossip Girl
It appears she may have died from complications with a recent liver transplant.
***
Some good news of a personal note?
My Cardiologist informed me that the Stress Test came back normal, there's no signs of damage to my heart, or a heart attack.
I decided to read it. [And got a headache. Legislators and lawyers have mastered the art of passive aggressive and evasive writing. They find ways to give themselves power - by making it as vague as possible, with lots of wiggle room. In short? It's open to interpretation and all you need is to have the right person interpret it. I'm reminded of why I disliked law school? I do read stuff like this for a living though and have been taught how to analyze and interpret it.] They are right, it doesn't mention Medicaid at all. It didn't cut Social Security or Medicare - as far as I can tell. But it did decrease the spending for them. However, Medicaid falls under the Committees expected to cut services, and so they conceivably do it under this bill. Also, it did cut taxes to the wealthy.
Outtakes:
*(a) "In general.—In the House of Representatives, the chair of the Committee on the Budget may revise the allocations of a committee or committees, aggregates, and other appropriate levels in this resolution for any bill or joint resolution considered pursuant to section 2001 containing the recommendations of one or more committees, or for one or more amendments to, a conference report on, or an amendment between the Houses in relation to such a bill or joint resolution, by the amounts necessary to accommodate the budgetary effects of the legislation, if the budgetary effects of the legislation comply with the reconciliation instructions under this concurrent resolution." [Basically they have the power to make cuts as needed.]
TITLE IV—Policy Statements, SEC. 4001. Policy statement on economic growth, paragraph 2:
"The free market, where individuals pursue their own self-interests, has been responsible for greater advancements in quality of life and generation of wealth than any other form of economic system. Federal policies designed to grow the economy should thus allow market forces to operate unhindered rather than pick “winners” and “losers”."
Reliable analyses of the bill and reports on it's passage:
* House Passed a Budget Blueprint - What Happens Now
* Senate Budget Resolution vs. House
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise plans to bring up the House's budget resolution to the floor next week. Whether it can pass quickly is another story.
In order to appease members of the Freedom Caucus, House GOP leaders made adjustments to their resolution that would direct up to $2 trillion in spending cuts, with a large chunk likely coming from Medicaid.
Both chambers are using the budget resolution as part of a process called reconciliation — a budget tool that will enable Republicans to pass large swaths of Trump's agenda without any Democratic support. Importantly, both chambers ultimately need to pass the same resolution.
The 2017 tax cuts that congressional Republicans want to renew expire at the end of 2025 — a looming deadline for both chambers.
* House Republicans Pass the Budget Bill - note all the Democrats voted against, only one Republican voted against but for only because it didn't cut deeply enough.
* American Hospital Association - House Passes Budget Resolution Potentially Impacting Medicaid
* AP News House Budget Bill Passes - per usual - AP News is the most reliable of the news sources.
Even as they press ahead, Republicans are running into a familiar problem: Slashing federal spending is typically easier said than done. With cuts to the Pentagon and other programs largely off limits, much of the other government outlays go for health care, food stamps, student loans and programs relied on by their constituents.
Several Republican lawmakers worry that scope of the cuts being eyed — particularly some $880 billion over the decade to the committee that handles health care spending, including Medicaid, for example, or $230 billion to the agriculture committee that funds food stamps — will be too harmful to their constituents back home.
GOP leaders insist Medicaid is not specifically listed in the initial 60-page budget framework, which is true. Johnson and his leadership team also told lawmakers they would have plenty of time to debate the details as they shape the final package.
But lawmakers wanted assurances the health care program and others will be protected as the plans are developed and merged with the Senate in the weeks to come.
* BBC on the House Bill Passing - this is general in content, and posted just to see how the international media is reporting on it.
***
In other unrelated news? Michelle Trachenberg has died at the age of 39, best known for her roles in Harriet the Spy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Gossip Girl
It appears she may have died from complications with a recent liver transplant.
***
Some good news of a personal note?
My Cardiologist informed me that the Stress Test came back normal, there's no signs of damage to my heart, or a heart attack.
no subject
Date: 2025-02-27 12:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-27 01:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-27 01:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-28 02:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-28 02:55 am (UTC)The world probably wouldn't kill so many of us if it didn't have human assistance (cough RFK Jr cough).
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Date: 2025-02-27 01:55 am (UTC)What a shock to hear about Trachtenberg.
no subject
Date: 2025-02-27 02:32 am (UTC)