Budget Buffoons

Why Does Having a Budget on Time Matter?


If the government (state or federal) does not have a budget, then there are no funds to pay for all the services they provide.  Government employees will not get paid...all except the legislators whose responsibility it is to pass a budget on time. This causes all kinds of havoc, such as a backlog of government work and more wasted tax dollars.

Why Does This Happen?


Politicians want to get money for the programs, projects and parts of government they care about.  They usually don't agree on how they should spend our tax dollars.  The product of these disagreements is a late budget and all its consequences.



Why Do Legislators Still Get Paid?


It's law.  The Senate actually tried to pass a law recently that would eliminate legislator pay in case of a government freeze, but the bill was stalled in the House.  Now, everything is stalled until the budget gets passed.

What Are the Political Games in Play?

1. The Democrats will try to frame the Republicans with the message - "They are holding up the budget by holding Planned Parenthood/Pregnant Mothers hostage."  This claim comes from the general Republican stance that government should not fund institutions that grant abortions.  Expect the Democrats, as usual, to be weak on getting this message out.
2. The Republicans will try to frame the Democrats by saying that - "They still want to spend too much and are being greedy when we need to cut at least $2 billion more."  Expect them to be unified and pretty good with the messaging, even if it's deceptive.  
3. President Obama is placing himself in the middle as the mediator.  He wants to be viewed as the only sane one as both sides argue.  This is an interesting tactic, but it's dead wrong for politics.  It might be the most rational and it might be the right thing to do, but it is not the way to score any political points.  Even if you are playing the mediator, the game is to make the other side look bad while doing it.  Clinton did it back when he was President in a similar situation.  Sadly, Obama will come off as an absent leader, rather than a rational President who understands the separation of the legislative and executive branches.

Some Thoughts

• $2 billion is scat compared to the mother load of debt dung that we have piled up.  We owe in the trillions folks.  It's not a good excuse to hold a budget up.
• If pro-choice advocates really want government out of the wombs of mothers, then the Republicans point of removing funding for abortions makes some sense on the same grounds.  Why should government fund your abortion operation if you don't want them messing around with your womb?
• Obama's strategy is getting old.  I would like to see him step up and take credit for his work directly.
• Politicians are trying to look good by claiming they shouldn't get paid during a government shut down.  The fact is they will still get paid as law stands right now.  Even if they didn't, most of them make a lot of money outside of their paychecks, so their efforts to "connect with the common person through pain of no pay" is an insult.  Really, you should be insulted right now that they mock your intelligence so often.  Remember, we own government.  That money being spent is yours and mine.  They shouldn't be allowed to waste it like this.