02/18/19 Filed in:
Spending | Taxes | Budget SAFE suggestions: Abolish debt limit, prune spending, don't expand entitlements, don't raise taxes, expect 2020 presidential candidates to support balancing the budget.
Read More...Tags: Rep. Paul Ryan, President Barack Obama, Congressional Budget Office, Social Security, healthcare programs, Interest expense, Green New Deal, Medicare for all, President Donald Trump, Office of Management and Budget, Joint Select Committe re budget process, Balanced Budget Amendment, Sen. Mike Lee, Sen. Chuck Grassley, debt limit, Steven Mnuchin, Citizens Against Government Waste, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security 2100 Act , Ivankacare, tariffs, carbon tax, business tax breaks, Budget Reconciliation Act, Rep. Kevin Brady
12/17/18 Filed in:
Political System SAFE proposed four relatively modest goals for the closing weeks of the 115th Congress; guess how many of them will be achieved this year. Read More...Tags: unified Republican government, House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, President Donald Trump, repeal and replace GovCare, Sen. John McCain, Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Bipartisan Budget Act, Joint Select Committe re budget process, debt limit, Sen. David Perdue, farm bill, governmment shutdown, border wall funding, Vice President Mike Pence, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, NAFTA, USMCA, Sen. Pat Toomey, Thomas Donohue, Robert Mueller, James Comey, Rep. Adam Schiff, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Rep. Devin Nunes, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, Rep. Trey Gowdy
11/26/18 Filed in:
Budget Bipartisan reform of the "broken" congressional budget system sounded like a nice idea, but the JSC proposals wouldn't deliver any real benefits. Better to leave things as they are. Read More...Tags: Bipartisan Budget Act, Joint Select Committe re budget process, Joint Select Committe on Deficit Reduction, Tom Schatz, Michael Tanner, Mick Mulvaney, House Speaker Paul Ryan, House Speaker John Boehner, Amakudari, Rep. Steve Womack, groupthink, Steven Covey, David Obey, Budget Contol Act, Congressional Budget Office, continuing resolutions, biennial budgeting, spending caps, appropriation committees, Senate filibuster rule, reconciliation process, debt limit
11/12/18 Filed in:
Political SystemSAFE to DC: Between now and 12/31, please focus on budget process reform, FY 2019 appropriation bills, approval of USMCA, and disclosure of how/why the Trump campaign investigation was started.
Read More...Tags: early voting, Joint Select Committe re budget process, Rep. Steve Womack, debt limit, border wall funding, President Donald Trump, amnesty, DACA , Supreme Court, 9th Circuit, NAFTA, USMCA, Mueller probe, Jeff Sessions, Andrew Whittaker, Sen. Chris Coons, James Comey, Clinton campaign, Rep. Adam Schiff, Rod Rosenstein, Rep. Devin Nunes, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, Rep. Trey Gowdy
06/11/18 Filed in:
SpendingRe the JSC’s review of the budget process, no one has zeroed in on the primary problem: The Senate filibuster rule is being used to slow down the process for partisan advantage. Read More...Tags: Joint Select Committe re budget process, Martha Coven, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Bill Hoagland, Don Wolfensberger, Emily Holubowich, Matt Owens, Maya MacGuineas, Jim Capretta, Bill Dauster, Joe White, smootihing budget process, government shutdowns, debt limit, Rep. Steve Womack , Rep. Nita Lowey, biennial budgeting, budget resolutions, budget proposals, Senate filibuster rule, reconciliation process, Social Security, Medicare, demographic trends, fiscal house of cards, discretionary spending, mandatory spending, US Comptroller General, Gene Dodaro, Major Savings and Reforms, CAGW's Prime Cuts, Mick Mulvaney, Tom Schatz, Michael Tanner
02/12/18 Filed in:
SpendingThe more one examines last week's bipartisan, bicameral budget deal, which raised government spending levels across the board, the uglier it looks. Read More...Tags: Bipartisan Budget Act, DACA , President Donald Trump, border wall , dreamers, Diversity Visa Lottery, chain migration, Sen Chuck Schumer, Sen Mitch McConnell, deficits, debt ceiling, House Speaker Paul Ryan, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Sen. John Thune, Sen. Chris Coons, budget caps, CHIP, community health[care] centers, tea party, President's budget proposal, defense spending, debt limit, tax preferences, fuel cell investment tax credit, Medicare, Independent Payment Advisory Board, donut hole, Joint Select Committe re budget process, "Super Committee" in 2011
01/29/18 Filed in:
SpendingTo avoid being blamed for the next government shutdown, which is set for February 8, Republicans should consider taking a harder line. Read More...Tags: continuing resolution, GovCare, tax cut , apppriation bills, CHIP, debt limit, DACA Program, government shutdown, defense spending, budget caps, Sen. Tom Carper , dreamers, Sen Chuck Schumer, President Donald Trump, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Schumer Shutdown, Trump Shutdown, Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, Legislative Affairs Director Mark Short, Sen. Mitch McConnell, moderate senators, Sen. Chris Coons, Sen Joe Lieberman, "No labels" movement, path to citizenship, border wall funding, Senate filibuster rule, Sen. Ted Cruz. , nuclear option
10/23/17 Filed in:
Political SystemDon’t stop at political style in assessing the president’s performance; also consider his policies. Read More...Tags: President Barack Obama, President Donald Trump, negative media coverage, President George W. Bush, GovCare, "the talent", NATO funding, opioid epidemic, debt limit, filibuster rule, budget reconciliation process, Republican healthcare bill, Republican tax plan, joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Sen. Chuck Schumer, Mitt Romney, House Speaker Paul Ryan, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, New World Order, open borders, Brexit vote, Illiblerals
Two deadlines were extended by bipartisan agreement, but don’t expect a new spirit of cooperation in DC. Read More...Tags: debt limit, government spending authority, CHIP, budget resolution, infrastructure, GovCare, hurricanes, North Korean nuclear threat, bipartisan deal, Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, President Donald Trump, continuing resolution, government shutdown, appropriation bills, Sen. John McCain , Defense Secretary James Mattis, Joint Chiefs Chairman Joseph Dunford, proposal to nationalize defense intellectual property, Sen Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Sen. Claire McCaskill, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, Sen. John Cornyn , Sen. Pat Roberts, "Not One Penny" campaign, Sen. Bill Cassidy, Sen. Lindsey Graham, Sen. Dean Heller, Sen. Lamar Alexander
08/28/17 Filed in:
SpendingThere is no bipartisan consensus to solve the fiscal problem so the majority party should lead the way. Read More...Tags: political posturing, debt limit, Treasury Department, Treaasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Republcan Study Committee, Rep. Mark Walker, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, appropriation bills, continuing resolution, MASA Act, Rep. Diane Black, filibuster rule, border wall funding, Sen. John Cornyn, DACA Program, President Donald Trump, Phoenix rally, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, immigration reform
06/26/17 Filed in:
SpendingConversations about raising the debt limit are a waste of time; the money is already spent or committed. Read More...Tags: debt limit, President Barack Obama, debt limit deal in 2011, Joint Committee, sequester, Speaker John Boehner, President Donald Trump, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Bipartisan Policy Center, Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, filibuster, August recess, Gordian knot, Tresury Secretary Jacob Lew, "essential" government functions, Professor Oscar Varela, Neil Gorsuch, reconciliation process, Kurt Schlichter
04/03/17 Filed in:
Political SystemFilibuster rule leads to: gridlock, congressional decline, one-way ratchet, poor bills, budget blackmail. Read More...Tags: nuclear option, Neil Gorsuch, Sen. Mitch McConnell, advise and consent, Sen. Chuck Schumer, gridlock, one way ratchet, Congressional Budget Office, American Health Care Act, government shutdown, debt limit, spending authority
11/09/15 Filed in:
SpendingRepublican vows to reboot the congressional budget process have been put on hold until 2017. Read More...Tags: debt limit, Bipartisan Budget Act, filibuster, power of the purse, policy riders, government shutdown, budget caps, outgoing House Speaker John Boehner, new House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senator Ted Cruz, Senator Rand Paul, balancing the budget, defense v. non-defense spending , Social Security disability bailout, Medicare premium fix, omnibus spending bill, Gitmo, executive branch overreach