COMMENTARY | Sept 26. 2011 | There is no federal budget. There is no plan to cut spending. There is no money left for disaster relief. There is no jobs plan for Americans. But Congress did decide to go home for a weeklong vacation.
After completing nearly a monthlong vacation in August, Congress again will adjourn for a weeklong vacation with a plateful of unfinished business awaiting its return. The House has already adjourned, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has been unclear whether he will adjourn the Senate or require members to return to finish business.
At stake are the appropriate bills for every federal department and program. A continuing resolution to fund government programs has passed the House, but been defeated in the Senate. Since the House is in recess past the deadline, the Senate will be forced to pass the House bill or risk closing down the federal government on Oct. 1 when spending authority ends.
Didn't we just go through this?
It looks like Americans are going to have at least another year of rough-and-tumble politics on every spending measure, including the most basic bills to pay for essential services. Critical agencies such as Federal Emergency Management Agency are scraping for disaster relief funding.
The Associated Press is reporting FEMA is down to $175 million in available funds for disaster relief programs that are operating across the country. While each house of Congress has passed supplemental funding, they are substantially different on how they pay for that funding -- an impasse to passing it in each house.
It only gets better. In eight weeks, the congressional super committee charged with identifying $1.5 billion in cuts over the next decade must approve the first step in reducing the deficit or automatic spending cuts will occur in every federal program. So far, the committee has succeeded only in identifying their differences. But fear not: they are on vacation this week too.
Congress seems to have a careless mentality from the perspective of the average American. It has been unable to agree on anything, and clearly see every single issue as both an opportunity to battle it out and from the opposite point of view. I wonder if there has ever been such a level of distrust and inability to work together between our two political parties. It is a sad day for America.
#Source: By Dan McGinnis | Yahoo! Contributor Network – Sept 26 2011
http://news.yahoo.com/congress-vacation-week-leave-message-175500889.html
After completing nearly a monthlong vacation in August, Congress again will adjourn for a weeklong vacation with a plateful of unfinished business awaiting its return. The House has already adjourned, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has been unclear whether he will adjourn the Senate or require members to return to finish business.
At stake are the appropriate bills for every federal department and program. A continuing resolution to fund government programs has passed the House, but been defeated in the Senate. Since the House is in recess past the deadline, the Senate will be forced to pass the House bill or risk closing down the federal government on Oct. 1 when spending authority ends.
Didn't we just go through this?
It looks like Americans are going to have at least another year of rough-and-tumble politics on every spending measure, including the most basic bills to pay for essential services. Critical agencies such as Federal Emergency Management Agency are scraping for disaster relief funding.
The Associated Press is reporting FEMA is down to $175 million in available funds for disaster relief programs that are operating across the country. While each house of Congress has passed supplemental funding, they are substantially different on how they pay for that funding -- an impasse to passing it in each house.
It only gets better. In eight weeks, the congressional super committee charged with identifying $1.5 billion in cuts over the next decade must approve the first step in reducing the deficit or automatic spending cuts will occur in every federal program. So far, the committee has succeeded only in identifying their differences. But fear not: they are on vacation this week too.
Congress seems to have a careless mentality from the perspective of the average American. It has been unable to agree on anything, and clearly see every single issue as both an opportunity to battle it out and from the opposite point of view. I wonder if there has ever been such a level of distrust and inability to work together between our two political parties. It is a sad day for America.
#Source: By Dan McGinnis | Yahoo! Contributor Network – Sept 26 2011
http://news.yahoo.com/congress-vacation-week-leave-message-175500889.html
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