For the second time since it became law just over a year ago, the members of the U.S. Senate will go on the record about the Obama health law today, all as part of a deal brokered last weekend to avert a government shutdown.
When Republicans cut that agreement, part of it was that Senate leaders agreed to hold a vote on a plan to block all money to implement the Obama health law, again forcing all Democrats to go on the record about the health law - all are expected to support it - an outcome the GOP hopes to put to use in next year's elections.
The votes on the health reform law - and federal funding for Planned Parenthood - will come as the Congress tries to wrap up work on the budget for this year.
Here's the language of what will be voted on today:
‘‘SEC. 1811. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds made available in this Act or any previous Act may be used to carry out the provisions of Public Law 111–148, or any amendment made by such Public Law, or title I or subtitle B of title II of Public Law 111–152, or any amendment made by such title or subtitle.’’.
Got that?
We should note that today's action on the budget for Fiscal Year 2011 is coming on April 14, which means we are closer to the start of the new fiscal year at this point. That's how late this budget action is.
As for this over five month stop gap budget, Republican leaders in the House seem to be confident that they will have the votes, even as many freshmen GOP lawmakers try to figure out if they'll vote for the plan.
"My staff and I are going through the bill," said freshmen Rep. Sandy Adams of Florida, as she still wasn't sure how she would vote when I spoke with her and other new lawmakers last night.
But other newcomers weren't quibbling over the numbers.
"I came up here to make cuts," said Rep. Dan Webster, a neighbor of Adams in the Sunshine State.
"If there's a bill and it's going to save $100, I'm for it. And if there's a bill that saves $100 billion, I'm going to be for that too," Webster added.
Roiling the waters yesterday were several reports that said the plan would not cut anywhere near the almost $40 billion in cuts that GOP leaders have been advertising.
There was even an Associated Press story saying the savings this year would be more like $353 million, which sparked concern among Republican lawmakers.
But the office of Speaker Boehner repeatedly denied those reports, claiming the cuts will mean $315 billion less in spending over 10 years.
"If House Republicans didn’t take a stand on behalf of the American people, the Democrats who run Washington would be spending that $315 billion and more over the next ten years," said a release from the Speaker's office.
Feeling the heat, Boehner's office sent fellow GOP lawmakers a series of background items to buttress their arguments last evening:
"In response to questions regarding the spending cuts contained in H.R. 1473, which funds the government through the remainder of FY 2011, we wanted to make sure you had the facts.
When dealing with the federal budget, we work in budget authority, i.e. the amount Congress allows the Treasury to spend.
Despite confusion created by misleading press reports, H.R. 1473 reduces this amount by nearly $45 billion (non-defense gross cuts) and nearly $40 billion in net cuts from FY 2010.
Total Discretionary Spending in FY 2011: $1,089,671,000
Total Discretionary Spending for FY 2011 assuming enactment of H.R. 1473: $1,049,794,000
Thus, spending is cut by nearly $40 billion from FY 2010 levels ($39.877 billion to be exact).
Furthermore spending is $78.5 billion less than what the President requested to spend in FY 2011. And when considering the baseline changes due to enactment of H. R. 1473, we are also cutting $315 billion out of the federal budget over the next ten years.
It is important to recognize that budget authority and outlays are terms used under the Congressional Budget Act to measure federal spending. Budget authority is provided, in dollars, through the annual appropriations process, to agencies of the federal government. Those agencies are allowed to spend up to the amount provided on a given program, project, or activity. In order to measure spending cuts year over year, you must look at what Congress puts money into Treasury's checkbook (budget authority) not the timing of Treasury writing the checks (outlays).
Outlays measure the rate at which an agency actually spends the dollars it has been provided. The dollars made available to agencies each year "outlay" at varying rates depending on the particular program, project, or activity. Some, such as salaries, spend out (or outlay) completely within the year the spending is provided. Others, such as procurement of a new defense weapons system, will take years to spend out (or outlay). "
Got that straight?
