Congress Blew It - Again: The National Budget Should Reflect National Priorities
Wednesday, 11 December 2013 09:19By Jo Comerford, Truthout | News Analysis
(Photo: Gabriella Demczuk / The New York Times)Americans deserve representatives in Congress who take seriously their role as stewards of the people's business. We deserve a federal budget that reflects Americans' priorities for how our tax dollars are spent. Unfortunately, Congress seems determined to give us neither.
Earlier this month, lawmakers missed yet another federal budget deadline, this one set by congressional appropriators as "the very latest" date that the congressional budget conference committee could go without producing topline budget numbers. If the committee couldn't reach agreement by December 2, appropriators warned, we would face "extremely damaging repercussions," including:
* the risk of another government shutdown in early 2014;
* inability to stop further cuts to critical federal programs via sequestration; and
* the need to budget by continuing resolution - an outcome that would virtually wipe the slate clean of the budgeting work done by Congress so far this year.
The date December 2 came and went, and still the budget conference committee is far from reaching agreement on the task assigned to them by Congress.
Of course, this isn't the first budget deadline missed by Congress this fall. In October, Congress failed to pass appropriations bills on time, leading to a government shutdown lasting more than two weeks. These are only the most recent examples in a decade-long pattern of budgetary irregularities, where continuing resolutions, often created behind closed doors in secretive negotiations, take the place of open, accountable appropriations processes. Sitting on top of this dysfunction is the sequester, itself the result of another missed deadline, chewing away at public services and infrastructure through across-the-board cuts.
To add insult to injury, this Congress also earned the distinction of the least productive Congress in US history. Fewer than 60 public laws were passed prior to December. That's even lower than the number of laws passed by the Republican Congress during 1995 under President Clinton. Instead of focusing their time on a spending and revenue plan, our lawmakers passed a bill specifying the size of commemorative coins for the Baseball Hall of Fame. The 113th Congress hasn't even agreed on how to fund the Pentagon, a part of the budget lawmakers are usually eager to support. When this Congress cannot get its act together even to fund the military industrial complex in this country, something is wrong.
What's going on here? It is as if Congress thinks that the American people are not paying attention, and thus they can do whatever they want with taxpayers' money. Partisan political games, backroom deals and deafness to the preferences of constituents has led to unconscionable gridlock and a federal budget largely out of balance with the people's priorities.
Here's some bad news for Congress: The American people are paying attention, and they do not like what they see. The most recent poll from The Economist/YouGov shows a catastrophic 6 percent approval rating for Congress. Six percent. Compared to Congress, people prefer toe fungus, zombies or jury duty (no joke), according to another poll by Public Policy Polling. It took throwing people like Charles Manson and Vladimir Putin into the mix for Public Policy Polling to find someone less popular than Congress.
For their part, Congress better start paying attention. According to an October Rasmussen poll, 78 percent of Americans would vote to get rid of every member of Congress and start from scratch.
At National Priorities Project, we have two major suggestions for Congress: Start listening to the American people and recommit to an appropriations process that solicits and honors their input.
Listening to the American People
Congress members may have a hard time agreeing on whether the sky is blue these days, but Americans tend to agree on a surprising number of priorities. Four issues in particular rise to the top of their list: securing Social Security, closing corporate tax loopholes, reducing military spending and containing health-care costs.
Securing Social Security. Despite more than a decade of repeated "sky is falling" rhetoric on this critical public program, voters show little interest in reducing Social Security benefits, preferring in large majorities to raise taxes if needed over reducing benefits. It's easy to see why: Social Security keeps almost half of elderly Americans out of poverty. Lawmakers should listen to the American people and eliminate the $113,700 limit on earnings subject to Social Security taxes to help preserve the program for future generations.
Closing Tax Loopholes for the Wealthy and Corporations. Sixty-six percent want tax loopholes closed for wealthy Americans so the revenue can be used to shrink the federal budget deficit, and 80 percent of Americans want tax loopholes for big corporations closed. Overall, Americans don't think it's fair that tax breaks for offshore corporate income cost the government $42 billion last year alone. The capital gains tax break, which primarily benefits the very wealthy, cost $83 billion.Congress should close or modify these breaks to provide more revenue for public services and infrastructure.
Reducing Military Spending. The United States will spend an astounding $653 billion on the military in 2014, more than 56 percent of the entire discretionary budget. In fact, yearly US military spending exceeds that of the next 13 nations combined. It's no wonder that, on average, Americans want to cut military spendingby 18 percent. Congress should heed the advice of the bipartisan task force that found $1 trillion in fat over the next 10 years hiding in the Pentagon budget - and start cutting.
Contain Health-Care Costs. The cost of health care consistently tops Americans' list of concerns when asked by pollsters, and some estimates show that up to one-third of health-care spending is wasted. Congress should explore laying groundwork for systems such as "bundled payments," where health-care providers receive payments for overall patient care rather than for each procedure or test. Doing so can cut costs by as much as 15 to 20 percent.
These four priorities represent critical areas of agreement among Americans, but they are hardly unique. Take a look at just how broad the consensus on federal spending and revenue actually is in this country:
* 95 percent of Americans say restoring jobs is a top priority.
* 88 percent of Americans say preserving the long-term stability of Medicare is essential.
* 75 percent of Americans oppose cuts to SNAP.
* 83 percent of Americans oppose cuts to K-12 education.
* 56 percent of Americans want to see a mix of spending cuts and tax increases.
In the face of these clearly stated budget priorities, it is incredible that Congress is gripped with such dysfunction that it cannot even keep the government open on a consistent basis, much less deliver a budget plan for the American people. One of the most critical symptoms of this dysfunction is the broken appropriations process, which absolutely must be remedied if the priorities described above are to be translated into law.
Get Appropriations Back on Track
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