Once a year, your elected representatives in Washington decide how they’d like to spend the hard-earned tax dollars you send to the nation’s capital. Republicans in the House released their version of the budget yesterday. It’s called the Balanced Budget for a Stronger America, and here are its highlights.
The House Republican Budget reduces projected federal spending over the next ten years by $5.5 trillion, and it will finally come into balance. The budget submitted by President Obama recently, NEVER balances – ever.
The Republican budget not only does NOT raise taxes, but calls for a fairer, simpler, tax code. In my view, this is critical, because the existing tax code is far too complex, and taxes are too high. Reforming and simplifying the federal income tax code is long overdue.
The Republican budget calls for the complete repeal of Obamacare. President Obama’s premier “accomplishment” has been a disaster. Many Americans, who were happy with their existing health care coverage, lost it, and were forced to switch to inferior plans at a higher cost.
The Republican budget increases defense spending, which President Obama has tried desperately to slash. In fact, he has proposed reducing our military personnel to levels not seen since before World War II. This would be extremely dangerous to our national security, especially when one considers the rise of ISIS and terrorism around the globe; Putin running amuck in eastern Europe; and the fact that China has increased its military expenditures by double digits, each year for the last 25 years.
The budget, which was introduced yesterday, is expected to be voted on in the full House next week. Now here’s where it gets tricky. Republicans will get few, if any, Democrat votes. So we must get the vast majority of Republican votes to pass it. But some Republicans feel that even though defense spending is increased, it’s not increased enough. And other Republicans believe that it doesn’t cut domestic spending enough.
Here’s why it’s critical that both the House and Senate pass the Republican budget. First, we have criticized Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi for not passing budgets when they controlled the House and Senate. So if we fail to do what we’ve criticized the Democrats for not doing, we’d look like hypocrites. And we’d deserve the same criticism we gave them.
But even more importantly is, it’s probably our best shot at getting rid of Obamacare. I know I’m getting into the weeds here, but 26 State Attorneys General filed a lawsuit, King vs. Burwell, which is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, which if they are successful, will be a critical blow to Obamacare. That’s the point at which we need the Republican House and Republican Senate to pass a repeal of Obamacare and get it on President Obama’s desk. Of course he’ll veto it, but that will tee Obamacare up as perhaps the principal issue of the Presidential and Congressional elections next year. We win; we get rid of Obamacare; and the nation wins.
Now here’s where I really get in the weeds. Normally, in order for the Senate to pass anything, you need 60 votes to overcome a filibuster and actually have a vote. Since there are only 54 Republicans in the Senate, you need six Democrats (assuming you have all 54 Republicans); Harry Reid makes sure that doesn’t happen; so the Senate never gets to vote on repealing Obamacare; so the repeal never gets to Obama’s desk. However, once a year, the Senate can pass legislation through a process called Reconciliation, and you don’t need 60 votes; you only need 51. But that’s only possible if both the House and Senate have passed a budget, and you have to reconcile something (in this case Obamacare) with the budget. Got it?
That’s why WE HAVE TO PASS A BUDGET, or we’re probably stuck with Obamacare forever.
The vote’s next week. Hopefully Republicans in both the House and the Senate can get their acts together and do the right thing. We’ll see.
