Monday, December 15, 2014

Major Provisions of the Cromnibus Budget Act, Including Some Outrageous Stinkers

Here is an excellent summary of the provisions of the budget act, nicknamed "Cromnibus," passed by the Senate over the weekend and sent on to the President. However, it fails to mention the campaign finance provisions discussed below.

There is so much wrong with this budget that it is hard to find much of great significance that is good. I would not have voted for it even if it meant a government shutdown. This was the last chance to stop some of these outrages before the Republicans take control of the Senate.

But there are a few good things:

The Homeland Security budget held steady, which means nothing was done to block President Obama's immigration executive orders.

The President's budget for fighting Ebola in Africa was approved.

NASA gets a slight budget increase, including funding for the new Orion space-launch program.

Various food-aid programs, including food stamps, are funded, as is $40 billion in highway funds for the states.

No funds are provided for administration of the ban on the sale and manufacture of incandescent light bulbs, which I do not view as bad because of the extremely high cost of LED alternatives. There should have been a lower cost alternative in place before this act was passed.

Things that are wrong:

About half of the $1.1 trillion budget goes to the Defense Department, including $92 billion for procurement of new weapons systems, including another 38 F-35 fighters that we probably do not need. We maintain an active military of 1.3 million and 820,000 reserves. We really should be doing a complete re-examination of our military needs in light of the fact that we are unlikely to have a major war with a major enemy in the foreseeable future. We do have continuing conflicts of relatively small scale, and, of course, there is the situation in Syria. But we probably need to focus on a smaller, more versatile military, at considerably lower cost. We spend just about as much on our military as the total of the combined military budgets of all the other countries in the world.

Some bank regulations of the Dodd-Frank Act were lifted, including the one that prevented banks from getting FDIC protection, and thus tax-payer protection, for certain kinds of risky investments - the very kinds that went bad in 2008 and caused the Great Recession. The provision in the budget bill was written by lobbyists for City Group.  Sen. Elizabeth Warren tried to block this provision unsuccessfully because - under enormous White House pressure - a number of Democrats voted for the budget.

The EPA budget of $8.1 billion is cut by $60 million, which means that agency's budget has been cut by 21% since 2010. The assault by the Republicans continues on efforts to protect the environment and to protect American citizens from pollution and harmful chemicals. Another rider forbids the EPA to regulate lead content in ammunition or fishing tackle. Just what we need - more lead in the environment.

The IRS budget is cut by $346 million, despite the fact that it has additional responsibilities under the Affordable Care Act. It also is prevented from targeting tea party and other organizations seeking tax-exempt status for their political activities, which previously were prohibited. This combined with the increase from $65,000 to $1.5 million that individuals can contribute to political parties over a two-year period means we will see even more big money in politics.

Why would anyone want to permit truck drivers to work 82 hours and not have adequate sleep between work weeks?  Well, this budget blocks the Transportation Department from requiring two nights of sleep between work weeks and reducing the maximum work week to 70 hours.

Another stinker - and a real head-scratcher: The budget stalls rules that were to go into effect in 2017 that would have required more whole grains, and less salt, in school foods.

The budget continues to ban the transfer of prisoners from Guantanamo and prohibits construction of facilities to house them in the U.S.

There are two provisions that seem to reflect completely opposed points of view. One rider prevents the District of Columbia from proceeding with the legalization of marijuana that was approved by voters in November. Another rider forbids the Justice Department from raiding medical marijuana dispensaries in states where they have been legalized.

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