The House passed the 2011 budget on April 14, averting a showdown for now.
Its agreement will last until the end of the fiscal year, September 30th,
when the wrangling will begin again. Legislators are trying to reconcile
ideas about what the 2012 budget should be and about how to reduce the
national debt.
They will need to decide about raising the $14.3 TRILLION DEBT CEILING
in the near future.
The two parties have SERIOUS DISAGREEMENTS. Essentially, Republicans
advocate cutting spending is the highest priority. Democrats propose
maintaining government services by cutting spending and raising taxes.
During the Bush administaration the tax rates for those with the highest
incomes were cut and those cuts continue. President Barack Obama declared
he would not compromise by extending those cuts again.
A bipartisan deficit reduction commission nicknamed "The Gang of Six"
is working on recommendations about how to reduce the deficit.
The House of Representatives passed the Republican Paul Ryan's 2012
budget proposal on April 15th. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
(D-CA)called it the wrong choice. She said the budget gives tax
breaks to oil companies and the richest individuals and shifted costs
to seniors. No Democrat voted for it.
There are parts of Paul Ryan's budget proposal that are excellent.
Perhaps what the Democrats and the Republicans need to do is to
sit down together OBJECTIVELY and work with out because they are
all representing the interest of ALL Americans!!!!
