Your Pink FLamingo

As we enter the next  calendar year during the run up to the election, we cannot afford to continue to coast without serious fiscal changes and budget cuts.  The President is already asking for another increase to the debt ceiling.  Last time in August I recommended a small debt increase because the money had already been appropriated.  I suggested an 800 billion increase coupled with 600 billion in real cuts (claw back of money not yet spent)  in the current year budget and a freeze on spending even though the appropriations were passed but not yet spent.  That would have brought some balance to the 1.4 trillion deficit with a small increase to the debt and demonstrated to the world financial markets that we were serious about necessary change before we default on our obligations.  Well, we all saw how that process went. 

So now I recommend the following and have sent an open letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner with these proposals.  

1. When we are borrowing 42% of every dollar we spend, the practice of not having a Congressional budget is malfeasance and dereliction of duty. 
I propose that the House by its own rule making authority in its own chamber prohibit passage of any appropriations bill (and all appropriations bills originate in the House) that is not passed pursuant to a properly passed Congressional budget with a reference to the line number of the budget to which the appropriation is tied. 
2. An emergency procedure would be available for items not in a budget or exceeding a line item in the budget but would require a 2/3 majority to pass.
3. Majority Leader Reid in the Senate has refused to pass a budget for years in order to give his members political cover with the outrageous spending binge of the current administration and before.  He must be forced to meet with the House to negotiate a budget so that we can have a roadmap to spending cuts that is not currently available.
4. If the Speaker and the members of the House are serious about  finding a way out of this mess - they could use the same rule making authority in their chamber to call for single issue legislation.  This would stop the practice of amendments and riders on bills which are not related to the subject matter of the bill. 

I believe that these changes can be made within the House of Representatives through their rule making authority and do not require action by the Senate or the President.

WHERE ARE WE GOING AND WHAT ARE WE DOING IN THIS HANDBASKET

I am not sure we can survive until the election to start trying to right the ship of state.  We are losing the respect of the world and the financial markets and we are truly going to hell in a handbasket. The replacement of the President is not a sure thing in November and we must take real action now.  My plan would force the Senate to negotiate and pass a budget with the House.  Canada has taken necessary steps to fix their economy and they are stronger than we are in many ways now.  The banking system is healthier and the Canadian Dollar is worth more than the US dollar for the first time in my lifetime.