The NPR ‘emergency’
By Dana Milbank
WashPost
Friday, March 18
House Republicans called an “emergency meeting” last week, suspending the usual procedures to rush an urgent piece of legislation to the floor.
Had the new majority finally come up with a job-creation bill? A compromise with Democrats to rein in the deficit?
Not quite. This particular emergency involved the lower end of the FM-radio dial. Republicans, in an urgent budget-cutting maneuver, were voting to cut off funding for National Public Radio. All $5 million of it — or one ten-thousandth of 1 percent of the federal budget.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office ran the numbers and calculated the impact this emergency measure would have on government spending: “No effect.”
Five minutes after acting on this budgetary emergency, House Republicans voted to continue the war in Afghanistan — which costs about $10 billion. Per month. They then flew home for a vacation.
(More here.)
WashPost
Friday, March 18
House Republicans called an “emergency meeting” last week, suspending the usual procedures to rush an urgent piece of legislation to the floor.
Had the new majority finally come up with a job-creation bill? A compromise with Democrats to rein in the deficit?
Not quite. This particular emergency involved the lower end of the FM-radio dial. Republicans, in an urgent budget-cutting maneuver, were voting to cut off funding for National Public Radio. All $5 million of it — or one ten-thousandth of 1 percent of the federal budget.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office ran the numbers and calculated the impact this emergency measure would have on government spending: “No effect.”
Five minutes after acting on this budgetary emergency, House Republicans voted to continue the war in Afghanistan — which costs about $10 billion. Per month. They then flew home for a vacation.
(More here.)
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1 Comments:
While Milbank is taking the “easy route” by focusing on NPR funding, that wasn’t the most meaningless vote the House held last week. The House voted to save a Billion Dollars …. via H.R. 861, the Neighborhood Stabilization Program Termination Act.
Now, a Billion Dollars may seem like a lot of money … except there is only one problem. See the problem is that the $1B is what is “unobligated” today … but unless the Senate takes up the bill and President Obama signs it by March 31st, the monies are “obligated” … so that communities like the Windsor Oak neighborhood in Elk River MN can get matching monies. The legislation was passed largely on a party line vote so it has virtually no chance in the Senate, IF they felt like addressing it.
So what did this accomplish … it provided an opportunity for press releases to tout how the Republicans are saving money.
BTW, the CBO reported that this would have no affect on the national debt as they do not believe it will be enacted in time.
IF the Republicans were serious about this, they should have brought it up months ago ... not schedule it before they take another "vacation" week.
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