I’m still trying to process what’s in the budget (.pdf). It was a rolecall on its way to passage in the Senate when I started writing this, and will pass the House shortly.
The fact that the loopholes are mostly still in place is problematic. And there is more money for education, but I’m not sure it’s enough for the McCleary Decision. Still, without structural reform, the best we can hope for is to put off the tough decisions until the next recession. So far from what I can tell, it could have been worse, but it still isn’t good.
“The difference … is explained by a Republican win: As Hunter groused, the GOP prevailed on where the money comes from. …
“[T]he final budget deal relies on the following revenue sources: $617 million in cuts; $387 million in transfers from the capital construction budget; $114 million in other account transfers; $351 million in federal money for Medicaid expansion; and the perennial suspension of I-732 (a cost-of-living pay increase for teachers) for $320 million.”
http://www.seattlemet.com/news.....-june-2013
Roger Rabbit Commentary: Sure smells like fund transfers and accounting gimmicks to me. I thought GOPers were against that sort of thing, but apparently that objection applies only when Democrats write budgets.
Here’s where Republicans show their true colors:
“In their proposal, the Republicans went above and beyond the caseload savings in cutting programs such as Assistance for the Blind and Disabled ($102 million in cuts vs. the Democrats’ $15 million) ….”
Yep, kicking blind and disabled people is just like Republicans!
Yes, the Republicans suck and are evil. But, that doesn’t mean we don’t need better Democrats. We need better Democrats.
Or maybe we should just go nonpartisan & unicameral. It’s not like the house and senate and our two party system is doing us any favors. Maybe it’s time to kick them all to the curb and start over.
Michael@3: I could go for unicameral, but not nonpartisan. Because it would be “nonpartisan”. Like the King County Council. Just makes it harder for average voters to figure out who the D’s and R’s really are.
Make the House the whole legislature; maybe have staggered 3- or 4-year terms to cut down election fatique and expense? Just off the top of my head.
@4 How about ejection seats? We can push a button and they’re gone.
Over on the Brand X Blog, Adam Faber complained that a friend of his couldn’t get a public records request processed by OFM because they were busy shutting down the government.
@4
Not if you make the elections publicly funded. And the real point is that the Republicans and the Democrats aren’t doing the work of the people, so lets get them out of there. Or at least scare the shit out of them.
King County was made NP because the Republican’s couldn’t compete and the Democrats sucked bad enough to let them. In this case we’d be going NP because neither party is doing the work of the people and we’d be doing over the objection of the parties. I don’t see any reason why the two very different cases would have to have the same outcome.
Plus, it would be really fun to threaten them with this just to scare the crap out of them.
This Is How People Have To Live In GOP States
“Starting next week, North Carolina — which has the fifth highest jobless rate in the country — will become the only state in the union with no safety net for the long-term jobless … 71,000-plus long-term unemployed residents will lose access to the federally funded Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program.
“North Carolina is losing eligibility to the federal program because of a new law … which reduces the number of weeks that unemployed people are eligible for state-funded benefits and cuts the maximum weekly benefit amount by roughly one third, from $535 to $350.
“It is the latter provision that has cost North Carolina workers its eligibility: States looking to receive federal EUC money are forbidden from cutting weekly benefits. …
“As of Monday, July 1, North Carolina’s jobless will be able to collect state unemployment benefits for up to 19 weeks, but not the 26 weeks that is the national standard. And after that, they won’t have access to the federal funds available in every other state. …
Republicans in the state have defended the cuts as a necessary measure to reduce the state’s $2.5 billion debt to the federal government. The state originally borrowed that money in order to fulfill its unemployment insurance obligations to jobless residents. Under the conditions of the loan, the federal government has been gradually reducing tax credits for North Carolina businesses over the past few years, effectively increasing their tax burden.
“Local business interests such as the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce hope that repaying the loan will make it possible to once again lower taxes on private industry.”
http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/06/28.....nemployed/
Roger Rabbit Commentary: Unless you assume that no unemployed worker in North Carolina has a family to support they’re literally taking food from hungry children to give tax cuts to their business buddies.
SCOTUS’ Voting Rights Act decision, a Business Week columnist says, is a “poisoned chalice” for Republicans:
“The Supreme Court’s decision … will make it easier for Republicans to hold and expand their power in … Southern states. That will, in turn, make it easier for them to hold the House. It will also intensify the Southern captivity of the GOP, thereby making it harder for Republicans to broaden their appeal and win back the White House.”
http://www.businessweek.com/ar.....gop#r=read
Roger Rabbit Commentary: The GOP has already gone far down the road of being the party of southern racists, which means it will never again be a national party.
@9 But if the House stays in the hands of the arch conservatives, we would have generations of obstructionist government. Can the country stand that?