House GOP budget bill aims to slash environmental regulation

It’s not really about cutting federal expenditures by $60-billion-

The argument over these particular budget cuts is not about reigning in big costs. It is almost entirely about eliminating or gutting entire programs, many of them very popular, without a hearing or even a separate vote on each (most of which they would lose).

House GOP budget bill aims to slash environmental regulation. By Bettina Boxall, Los Angeles Times. This is undemocratic process at its worst. The method used allows members to avoid any responsibility for the cuts made. In my opinion, it is certainly worth shutting the government down so that people will put required to pay attention.


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  1. wolfsong Avatar
    wolfsong

    It’s not even about the environment, they have to pay back the Koch brothers campaign contributions. Was watching Senator Waxman today on CSPAN and he called out both the House and the Koch brothers, pretty entertaining.

  2. Cody Coyote Avatar
    Cody Coyote

    Yup. The Faux Conservatives have pretty much worn out that ” National Security” blanket to hide their devious intentions behind , so they got a big new double woven blanket , “Deficit Reduction”. They bought it at the Pentagon PX. It is bright red, made of burlap and raw wool. It will be used to smother social programs, environmental regulations, NPR, and much the Obama Dems hold precious. The new Grand Excuse.

    Never mind that the most profligate big spending deficit making Presidents of all time were named Reagan or Bush.

    I remind everyone here that the very first thing Bush-Cheney Republicans tried to do before the 9-11 planes even taxied out was their massive tax cut / tax rebate plan that had no spending cuts alongside the huge drawdown in tax revenue , a purely ideological plan created out of the vapors. Bush-Cheney went into deficit CREATION with a zeal. Everything they did the first years was a deficit multiplier, a deficit amplifier. Including the greatest unfunded mandate of them all, War.

    After the 2002 midterms and before we invaded Iraq , Treasury Secretary Paul O’ Neill pointed this out during the strategy sessions, Dick Cheney immediately hamstrung him by saying ” Deficits don’t matter. We won the mid-terms…” ( sound familiar ? )

    A month later, Cheney fired O’Neill. He was replaced by John Snow ( talk about a snow job! ) and eventually the Goldman Sachs guy , Henry Paulson. ( an even bigger inside snow job ).

    Now, suddenly , deficits do matter. Could any of this possibly be more hypocritical ?

    1. mikarooni Avatar
      mikarooni

      No.

    2. william huard Avatar
      william huard

      You have millions of mindless Republican voters that vote every election for policies that actually hurt them. Remember that there is no moderation or common sense in any of the modern day Republican party’s agenda.
      Cry about the deficit but vote for tax cuts for people that don’t need them
      Cry about personal freedom as you oppress groups of people that you don’t agree with
      Cry about wanting small government as you vote for really really big government like restricting women on health issues
      Let’s not even get into the environmental issues- i’m waiting for the Republican bill to question whether the earth is round or flat

    3. william huard Avatar
      william huard

      These republicans are unreal- Don’t you know that the budget deficit is the “new uncertainty” that will continue to affect job growth. Funny they weren’t saying that about the tax cuts

    4. SEAK Mossback Avatar
      SEAK Mossback

      I consider myself a fiscal conservative, but to me that means not just controlling spending but paying your bills (and not running up credit) so you can have a bright, reasonably comfortable future. Both the Democrats and Republicans are big spenders, albeit with different priorities, but the Republicans are particularly dangerous to our financial future because they are also credit card addicts — believe just as much in spending (judged by their long history of actions cited by Cody Coyote, not what comes incessantly out of their mouths) but not paying their bills, leaving someone else down the line to clear the financial wreckage and make much harder choices.

      I’m not sure whether they actually relish the prospect of fiscal train wreckage so they can force a reshape of the nation along ideological lines favored by their handlers and contributors, or if they’ve just been too busy getting theirs to care much about our future. It took the Democrats in power in Congress about 40 years to get even close to reaching into the kitty the way Tom Delay and company did within 10 years as they became focused entirely on consolidating their new 1,000 year reich. I think most Democrats at least face a higher psychological hurdle they have to get over before they start major self-dealing from the treasury whereas Republicans seem to start with the premise that “Government’s all a waste anyway so I might as well get all I can for my supporters and backers and me while the getting’s good”. Several of our Republican legislators completely sold out the state when they orchestrated a tax change at the direction of the oil companies (sometimes through passed notes in legislative deliberation) while accepting small change (as little as $200 at a time) on the street, help with their own run-up credit card bills and small jobs for their private businesses . They knew the state watchdog agency they had carefully de-toothed was no threat, but never in their wildest dreams did they imagine the FBI was in the room . . . .

      1. JB Avatar
        JB

        You can’t cut taxes for the wealthiest people in society and expect to have the same level of government–especially when the wealthiest 20% hold more than 90% of the nation’s wealth.

        Tax rates for the wealthy are the problem:

        http://www.truthandpolitics.org/top-rates.php

      2. Brian Ertz Avatar

        notice how they had the tax-cut debate before the budget debate … crooks …

      3. Ralph Maughan Avatar

        JB,

        The continuation of the recession is now primarily a political weapon on behalf of the top 1 or 2% of the population (in terms of wealth).

        I am saying the recession could be cured. The wrong policies are being deliberately engineered.

    5. Immer Treue Avatar
      Immer Treue

      Read O’Neill’s book. It will make you hold your breath.

  3. WM Avatar
    WM

    Bad news. Bad choices. Bad government. Bad end result. And the political pendelum swings once again in a wider arc to the right.

Author

Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He was a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and was also its President for several years. For a long time he produced Ralph Maughan’s Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of “Hiking Idaho.” He also wrote “Beyond the Tetons” and “Backpacking Wyoming’s Teton and Washakie Wilderness.” He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.

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