| First, we will start with a thanks to all those in webranding's diary who admitted to reading Today in Congress. It takes a real mench to admit and interest in the sausage making.
Budget time. Defense Department Budget Time. Lots of terms. Lots of Acronyms.
And none of this is easy for the public to understand. Casual Wednesday's primer is a good place to start.
Remember, this is information the committees are putting out there themselves. This is good stuff, and they want you to read and understand it. They won't spoon feed it to you, of course. But it's out there.
It's arcane. It's hard to understand. And it's something most people are entirely in the dark about. But it's out there, so to the extent that we stay in the dark, it's our own fault.
Not sexy.
If there is a shift in procurement, the military industrial complex has almost every one of the 535 members of Congress worried about jobs. Remember the votes on the F-22 program? It was the first time I had seen the senior senator from my sate in two months.
Mr. Byrd opposed the amendment, which would eliminate $1.75 billion for five F-22 planes, but it passed the Senate 58-40. President Obama had threatened to veto the overall spending measure if it contained the fighter jet money.
Mr. Byrd, the West Virginia Democrat, said that he opposed the measure because the jet program provided important job opportunities during the economic recession.
It was the Department of Defense (DOD) version of 'too big to fail' last year? Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) Robert Gates said it is not over and the veto crayon is being sharpened. Bipartisanship may break out.
SECDEF also touched on the unsustainable rise in health insurance costs. Premiums under TriCare have not been raise since its inception in 1995. Staying with that level of support will put pressure on other parts of the budget. And unfortunately, underscore the total frustration with the insert your favorite thing here] that meant that health care reform become health insurance reform became not done for the August recess and seemingly derailed after 19 Jan 2010. And it goes on.
The brand new senator still has not reported for duty. When does the term slacker start to be applicable?
When Sen. Brown does grace us with his presence, the committee assignments will have been worked out. Here's to hoping that Leader Reid dos not give away the majorities on committees that cost us taxpayers a 10% increase in the legislative budget for the jobs programs for almost-former Republican staffers.
And in case I have not interested you in committee watching yet, just remember, Senator Max Baucus D-MT is still the chair of the Senate Finance Committee. By the time a bill hits the floor, . . .
And what truly is The Most Important News of the Day: TM
I can't watch all these f'n committees. Some may not deal with the DOD budget.
Seriously, where would you like to see the emphasis go? |
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