Category Archives: U.S. Congress

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

U.S. Congress

The Senate voted to repeal DADT Saturday, with both Sen. Pryor and Sen. Lincoln voting yes. The bill now goes to President Obama because the House has already voted for repeal. In Arkansas, Rep. Snyder voted for repeal while Reps. Boozman and Rep. Ross voted not. Rep. Berry, who apparently has checked out of his office early, did not vote.

My position on DADT has been pretty firm: This should be primarily a military issue and not a moral/social one. If the military supports the ban, uphold it. If the military supports repeal, repeal it. It’s hypocritical and cowardly for the rest of us to dictate this policy from our air-conditioned ivory white towers.

That said, I don’t think the military has come to enough of a consensus to warrant a change. The Marine Corps is definitely against it. Moreover, Democrats should not have pushed through the matter during a lame-duck session.

That would mean that, with Republicans controlling the House, DADT would not be repealed no matter what the military wants. But the voters have spoken, and elections have consequences.

DREAM Act – Change it and pass it

U.S. Congress

The Senate on Saturday voted down the DREAM Act, which would have granted citizenship to illegal aliens brought to the United States before age 16 as long as they serve in the military or attend college. Sen. Lincoln voted for it. Sen. Pryor voted against it.

Sixteen is a tad old for what supporters should be trying to accomplish. We should be trying to help people brought to America as young children become citizens of their homeland. A 16-year-old is not a young child.

Lower the age of eligibility to somewhere between 6 and 10 and then pass the bill.

What exactly does the tax cut bill compromise?

Debt and deficits, U.S. Congress

President Obama and the Republicans have agreed to a tax cut bill because they had to, and now we’ll see if congressional Democrats agree to the deal. Media reports indicate that, in all likelihood, opponents of the plan simply don’t have the votes.

But this was no mere extension of the Bush tax credits. The deal includes a 2 percent reduction in the payroll tax that workers pay to finance Social Security. General revenues – which were $1.4 trillion in the hole this year – will supposedly make up the balance.

So we’ve exchanged using Social Security surpluses to plug part of the holes in the budget for using the budget to plug holes in Social Security. Once again, we’re compromising our future.

It never ends, does it? Until, as Greece and Ireland have found it, it has to.

Deficit commission a start, but only that

Debt and deficits, U.S. Congress

The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, the group charged by President Obama with addressing the national debt, has released its final report, titled “The Moment of Truth.”

I haven’t had time to read the 65-page report, so I am relying on press reports. A real blogger would read the thing, and I’ll try to. My first impression is that at least they’re trying, but even their best efforts were only able to reduce the annual deficit to $279 billion by 2020. That used to be about average before we started running the $1 trillion-plus annual deficits we run now. It would mean that the cumulative national debt – the sum total of what we owe, would still increase by more than $4 trillion by 2020. It’s now nearing $14 trillion.

The good news: At least the commission talked about raising the retirement age, though VERY slowly – to 68 by 2050. Even better, it talked about creating a budget for federal health programs like Medicare and Medicaid. Currently the government just keeps spending as long as doctors and hospitals keep billing.

It’s a start. Now we’ll see if lawmakers and President Obama keep the ball rolling or simply kick the can down the road as others have done.