President Obama Released his FY14 Budget This Morning Upsetting Right and Left

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall catch hell from both sides.” (Sign on the Justice Department wall of Burke Marshall at the height of the civil rights era.) 

The President's FY 2014 Budget was released this morning at 6 a.m. to the gnashing of teeth on both the right and  left.  Mark McKinnon from No Labels sums it up perfectly:

“The first sign it’s a good plan or at least a step in the right direction is that Obama is getting hell from both sides,” says former Bush and McCain strategist Mark McKinnon, a fellow Daily Beast columnist and No Labels co-founder. “If they’re not barking, then the proposal has no teeth and ain’t biting.” 

As I read the overview and then learn the facts about chained CPI, I am still at a loss to all those emails I getting asking for money to stop chained CPI by donating to whoever is sending the email.  It is like the left has learned from the right on how to rake in donations or is it the same people who switch sides to bring in money?  In both cases they are preying on people who they think will donate by scaring them.  Anyone who understands government and how it operates knows that these groups cannot do a thing if the President and Congress reach an agreement.  There are too many organizations asking for donations for various causes that have sprung up to raise dollars over the last four years with little to no accountability.  In my world, it is called a scam no matter the cause.

John Avalon at The Daily Beast had this to say about the budget concerning Social Security:

By offering entitlement reform through the cost-of-living formula adjustment for future retirees sonorously known as “Chained CPI,” saving almost $125 billion over the next decade while exempting the most elderly and impoverished seniors

The President is talking about future retirees and exempting the most elderly and impoverished seniors which you don't read or hear from the those opposing chained CPI.  Seniors recently went two years under the current system with no raise at all in their social security benefits and very small raises the last two years.  The current system for determining raises isn't working it seems as groceries, utility bills, and fuel has risen considerably but benefit raises have been minimal to non-existent.

Then here is the clincher for me which is something I have been advocating:

increased payroll taxes for the wealthy is included

If payroll taxes are increased for the wealthy then social security will be solvent indefinitely into the future and younger people can expect to receive social security they have been paying into for years.  From the overview comes this gem:

The Budget also incorporates the President’s compromise offer to House Speaker Boehner to achieve another $1.8 trillion in deficit reduction in a balanced way. When combined with the deficit reduction already achieved, this will allow us to exceed the goal of $4 trillion in deficit reduction, while growing the economy and strengthening the middle class. By including this compromise proposal in the Budget, the President is demonstrating his willingness to make tough choices and his seriousness about finding common ground to further reduce the deficit.

You don't always get all you want or demand in budget negotiations but the fact that President Obama has tied entitlement reform to raising taxes on the wealthy and closing their loopholes says all I need to know about this President's FY14 Budget -- I support his budget.

The Obama administration cautions that its concessions on entitlement reform are contingent on increased revenue from the tax expenditure, deduction, and loophole closures

IMHO the President has thrown down the gauntlet to Speaker Boehner and the obstructionist House Republicans that he is willing to deal but you can take it to the bank that the President's budget is DOA in the House.  The House GOP is not about to agree to anything that would raise taxes and close loopholes on the wealthy so all the hand wringing on the left is for naught.  If you ask me, it is smart politics to back the GOP into a corner where they have to admit that they will protect the wealthy at all costs.

The President has taken a balanced approach which appeals to a lot of Americans but IMHO this budget will be tossed in File 13 by the House.  Will they even read the President's plan or run to microphones to condemn the budget?  My bet is running out to condemn as they love talking to the media and unfortunately the media prints what they say in many instances not bothering to check facts which is why today's GOP is awarded so many "pants on fire" due to lies.  Will Boehner be a cricket or an attack dog on the President's budget?  We should find out shortly.

The President’s Fiscal Year 2014 Budget – Overview 

The President’s Fiscal Year 2014 Budget demonstrates that we can make critical investments to strengthen the middle class, create jobs, and grow the economy while continuing to cut the deficit in a balanced way. 

The President believes we must invest in the true engine of America’s economic growth – a rising and thriving middle class. He is focused on addressing three fundamental questions: How do we attract more jobs to our shores? How do we equip our people with the skills needed to do the jobs of the 21st Century? How do we make sure hard work leads to a decent living? 

The Budget presents the President’s plan to address each of these questions.To make America once again a magnet for jobs, the Budget invests in high-tech manufacturing and innovation, clean energy, and infrastructure, while cutting red tape to help businesses grow. To give workers the skills they need to compete in the global economy, it invests in education from pre-school to job training. To ensure hard work is rewarded, it raises the minimum wage to $9 an hour so a hard day’s work pays more. 

The Budget does all of these things as part of a comprehensive plan that reduces the deficit and puts the Nation on a sound fiscal course. Every new initiative in the plan is fully paid for, so they do not add a single dime to the deficit. The Budget also incorporates the President’s compromise offer to House Speaker Boehner to achieve another $1.8 trillion in deficit reduction in a balanced way. When combined with the deficit reduction already achieved, this will allow us to exceed the goal of $4 trillion in deficit reduction, while growing the economy and strengthening the middle class. By including this compromise proposal in the Budget, the President is demonstrating his willingness to make tough choices and his seriousness about finding common ground to further reduce the deficit. 

KEY BUDGET FACTS

Creates jobs by responsibly paying for investments in education, manufacturing, clean energy,infrastructure, and small business.

Represents more than $2 in spending cuts for every $1 of new revenue from closing tax loopholesand reducing tax benefits for the wealthiest.

Deficit is reduced to 2.8% of GDP by 2016 and 1.7% by 2023 with debt declining as a share of theeconomy, while protecting the investments we need to create jobs and strengthen the middle class.

Includes $400 billion in health savings that crack down on waste and fraud to strengthen Medicarefor years to come.  

Includes $1.8 trillion of additional deficit reduction over 10 years, bringing total deficit reduction achieved to $4.3 trillion.

This article by John Avalon at The Daily Beast caught my eye this morning as it dovetails with my beliefs that when both sides are mad, it is probably a pretty good budget.

Obama Budget Catching Hell From Both Sides: Why That’s a Good SignApr 10, 2013 4:45 AM EDT 

Liberals are howling ‘sellout’ over Social Security reform, and Republicans are readying their reflexive ‘tax and spend liberal’ attacks. That’s how you know Obama’s budget is a good one, says John Avlon.  

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall catch hell from both sides.”

So said a sign on the Justice Department wall of Burke Marshall at the height of the civil rights era. But it could also apply to President Obama’s new budget, finally offered up two months late and on the heels of competing Democratic Senate and House Republican proposals. 

(snip) 

By offering entitlement reform through the cost-of-living formula adjustment for future retirees sonorously known as “Chained CPI,” saving almost $125 billion over the next decade while exempting the most elderly and impoverished seniors, the White House is formalizing offers made in negotiations with House Speaker John Boehner in the past, putting them down in the black-and-white of the proposed budget.

In total, the Obama budget offers an additional $1.8 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade, bringing the White House’s self-scored tally of deficit reduction to more than $4 trillion over the decade. That falls well short of the Republicans’ post-election call for a balanced budget in 10 years. But the presence of a Democratic president proposing serious entitlement reform is significant and should represent a step toward a grand bargain if Republicans are serious that deficits and debt represent an existential threat. 

(snip) 

Obviously, it isn’t going to be that easy. Republicans can gripe that past talk about increased means testing for Medicare isn’t included in the Obama budget proposal (though increased payroll taxes for the wealthy is included). And proposals designed to delight liberals, like a $9 minimum wage or paying for more free pre-K programs in the states through higher cigarette taxes, aren’t going to send the Chamber of Commerce into the arms of the administration. The president is proposing an additional $50 billion in infrastructure spending to help spur economic growth. 

But with this budget, we are finally seeing substantive outreach on entitlement reform as part of a balanced plan. It cannot be wisely ignored. 

(snip) 

So while agreement is not a given, there are objectively many points of overlap—which, in a rational world, would be the basis for negotiation and agreement. 

But liberal Democrats are getting ready to mount the barricades over Obama’s alleged betrayal on Social Security. That should offer credibility to the president’s claim to be reaching out to the center. “In a panicky reaction to President Obama’s budget, some liberal groups are trying to chain Democrats to a Norquist-style pledge to defend the status quo on entitlements,” says Will Marshall of the Progressive Policy Institute. “It’s dumber than dumb, but at least it shows the country that Obama is trying to rally the center against the enemies of compromise on both sides.” 

The Obama administration cautions that its concessions on entitlement reform are contingent on increased revenue from the tax expenditure, deduction, and loophole closures—but that itself can be seen as a sign that some form of tax simplification is still achievable in this Congress. 

Excerpt:  Read more at The Daily Beast

Once again we looking at a stand-off but this time the American people are disgusted with the Republicans for their pushing the Country into sequester and refusing to negotiate on the budget.  Times have changed as more stories come out like the grounding of airplanes by the Air Force along with curtailing training except in deployed areas, the American people are going to be asking why the Republicans are too stubborn to negotiate in good faith.  Please read The GOP Betrays Its Legacy of National Security at the Pink Flamingo to get the full impact of the sequester on the Air Force.

The sequester could be ended today if the Republicans would agree to a vote but their stubbornness along with being pig headed has led us down this path of furloughs for federal employees, grounding of flights by the Air Force, and cut backs to necessary programs for starters. 'Republicans only care about the wealthy' is the only conclusion that can be reached.  Today's Republican at state and federal levels seems to be bought and paid for by wealthy donors who when they snap their fingers the GOP office holders jump.  That is no way to run the Country.

Time to vote out the GOP obstructionists in 2014 in a very strong GOTV effort in order to get the Country back on track.

Note:  Bold and emphasis is mine