Posts Tagged ‘Constitution’
July 28th, 2011 by John Feehery
Charlie Stenholm, the former Congressman from Texas
Charlie Stenholm, the former Congressman from Texas, perennially sponsored and pushed for a balanced budget to the Constitution. Charlie was a Democrat, and sponsoring the balanced budget amendment helped him immeasurably in many, many campaigns.
Old Charlie could vote like a Democrat on most things, but sound like a fiscal hawk because he was the sponsor of the Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution.
Congress after Congress, the balanced budget amendment would come up for a vote, and Congress after Congress, the BBA would just barely die in the House. One year, it even passed the House and it almost passed the Senate. Ironically, it was a Republican – Mark Hatfield — who ended up killing it in the Senate when it did pass the House.
House Republicans are now pushing the Senate to take up a balanced budget amendment as part of the Cut, Cap and Balance plan. That all sounds very well and good, and as a good little Republican, I support the concept of the Cut, Cap and Balance plan.
But I have one little nagging concern about the CC and B plan. Read more...
Tags: balanced budget amendment, Bob Casey, Bob Corker, Cap and Balance plan, Charlie Stenholm, Claire McCaskill, Congress, Conservatives, Constitution, Cut, Democrats, Denny Rehberg, dollar, Economy, election, House Republicans, Joe Manchin, Jon Tester, Kirsten Gillibrand, Mark Hatfield, Politics, reform, Republicans, spending, Tea Party, Tom Carper, White House
Posted in Education, Financial Crisis, GOP, Government, History, Laws, Media, Politics, Theory, election, spending, taxes | No Comments »
July 15th, 2011 by John Feehery
I can’t tell if this current Congress is making history, defying history, ignoring history, or will soon be history.
I had dinner last night with a Freshman member of the House, and he told a group of us that most of the new members believe that they have a sacred duty to change the trajectory of American history. They believe that they have to make history now or America will be history as a world leader tomorrow.
That is why so many of them simply don’t trust the leadership on either side of the Capitol or in either party. That is why so many of them are pushing so hard for a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution in exchange for a debt limit increase, a dubious, if not impossible task. And that is so many of them will vote against a debt limit increase if such an amendment is not included. In their view, we might as well have the crisis now, if such a crisis does happen, rather than later.
Many of these new members simply don’t care whether they come back or not. They believe that they have to do the right thing, no matter what their constituents might say, and damn the consequences. Read more...
Tags: American history, Barack Obama, Capitol, Congress, Conservatives, Constitution, debt limit increase, Democrats, Economy, election, Freshman, GOP, House, House Republicans, John Boehner, Nancy Pelosi, President Obama, Presidential election, Republic, Republicans, spending, taxes
Posted in Bad Decisions, Economy, Financial Crisis, GOP, Government, History, Media, Politics, Promises, Theory, election, spending, taxes | No Comments »
July 14th, 2011 by John Feehery
It is altogether reasonable to have grave concerns about our national debt. It is unreasonable to have grave concerns about our debt, and then refuse to do anything about it.
It is reasonable to vote against an increase in the debt ceiling. It is unreasonable to complain, though, when a debt ceiling increase passes and include things that you don’t like.
It is reasonable for conservatives to demand spending cuts to be included as part of the debt ceiling increase. It is unreasonable for them to hold hostage the debt ceiling increase unless the House and Senate both pass a Constitutional amendment to the Constitution.
It is reasonable for the President to ask Republicans to pass a debt limit increase. It is unreasonable for the President to demand that Republicans include a tax increase as part of the debt limit increase.
It is reasonable for the President to make the case for tax increases. It is unreasonable for the President to make that case merely seven months after he signed into law a huge tax cut. Read more...
Tags: Constitution, Constitutional amendment, debt ceiling, Democratic Party, Eric Cantor, House, John Boehner, McConnell plan, Nancy Pelosi, republican party, Senate, tax increase, transportation
Posted in Bad Decisions, Economy, Financial Crisis, GOP, Government, History, Laws, Media, Politics, Promises, Theory, bad news, spending, taxes | No Comments »
July 8th, 2011 by John Feehery
Is Jim DeMint becoming a moderate?
I ask that question because his insistence that a balanced budget amendment be included in any extension of the debt limit is not really that conservative.
Indeed, if you look at it clearly, attaching a balanced budget amendment to the debt limit will not cut a dime of spending.
Here’s why: it is highly unlikely that the states will pass such an amendment, and if they do, it won’t be for at least five years.
Every state, other than Vermont, has to statutorily balance their budget every year. It is often said that if a state has to balance its budget then why shouldn’t the federal government balance its budget?
Well, the big reason that states are able to balance their budgets is because of money that comes in from the feds. Now, governors will say with that money comes too many unfunded mandates. That may be true, but money is money, and the states would rather get the money than not get the money.
If the Federal government is forced to balance its budget, the first place it will look is the money it sends to the states. Programs include Medicare, highway funding, education funding, community block grants, housing funding, homeland security funding, etc. etc. etc. Read more...
Tags: America, balanced budget amendment, Barack Obama, Congress, Conservatives, Constitution, Democrats, Economy, Federal government, Government, health care, Jim DeMint, medicare, President Obama, raising the debt limit, reform, Republican, spending, state funding
Posted in Bailouts, Economy, Financial Crisis, GOP, Government, Laws, Politics, health care, medicare, spending | No Comments »
April 30th, 2010 by John Feehery
In 1893, Chicago hosted the World’s Fair, which celebrated the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in America. Designed by Daniel Burnham, the man who said, “Make no little plans, they have no magic to stir man’s blood,” and Frederick Olmsted, the famed landscape architect, the Chicago Columbian Exposition, sent a clear signal to the rest of the world: Watch out, because America is coming.
A century later, the United States government decided not to fund expositions any more, probably scarred by the memory of the 1984 New Orleans Expo, which is the only Expo to ever go bankrupt. Everything we do now is paid for by corporate America.
This history all came to my mind as I read the story in today’s Washington Post about the opening of the Shanghai Expo. The Chinese are taking this event very seriously, as they usually do. They get the symbolism. Read more...
Tags: china, Communism, Constitution, Corporations, democracy, Exposition, First Amendment, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Hu Jintao, Shanghai, Shanghai Expo
Posted in Financial Crisis, Food, Foreign Relations, Government, Reviews | No Comments »
April 15th, 2010 by John Feehery
Gary Andres has a great column today about, as he calls it, “the myth of American consensus.”
As Gary puts it, “The myth concerns the level of political consensus in America. It’s a lot lower than most people think. Polls may show high levels of agreement on generic aspirations like peace, prosperity, or even a better education system. But when it comes to specific steps to achieve these goals, things begin to unravel.”
It’s an important point. We live in a big country. We have strong regional differences. We have many ethnic backgrounds. We have many religious faiths. We come from many different types of families. We have many different work ethics, educational backgrounds, dreams, desires, mores, lifestyles, colors and sports allegiances.
So, having some fierce partisan differences shouldn’t be that shocking.
Partisanship is a good thing, as long as it serves a larger purpose. And that larger purpose is to find ways for this big country to somehow get along.
Civil society is not easy in a big country likes ours.
It requires patience, understanding, flexibility, leadership, politeness, manners and an appreciation for other points of view. Read more...
Tags: Barack Obama, consensus, Constitution, Federalism
Posted in Government, Politics, Theory | No Comments »
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