We would like to extend our thanks to the hundreds of Representatives and Senators who voted to carry out the promise of true change that so many of us voted for in November. The final budget resolution, passed last night in the House and Senate, represents a foundation for moving forward with legislation that supports the goals laid out by President Obama’s budget: providing quality health care for all Americans, investing in clean energy and making education more affordable and accessible.
Finally, we have a Congress in power that realizes fixing this economy means addressing the fundamental problems that got us here in the first place and building a foundation for long-term growth and prosperity – from the ground up.
The budget resolution agreed upon by the House and the Senate preserves the President’s priorities to ensure a sound and swift economic recovery – while still cutting the deficit substantially. It also includes reconciliation instructions that will protect health care reform and education from a minority block in the Senate.
If young people are negatively impacted by our nation’s economic crisis, young people of color and those with limited access to resources are hit especially hard. We are extremely pleased that Congress has taken this much-needed step to make dramatic investments in these communities so that everyone has equal access to affordable health care, higher education, and the new jobs that come from greening our economy.
Members of Congress from every corner of America came together to pass the budget resolution, yet none of them were Republicans. In this economic crisis, we cannot afford more partisan bickering. It’s time we all come together to solve our nation’s problems.
The new budget is the first step, now we must seize the economic opportunity we have to invest in smart choices for our future.
As President Obama noted yesterday in the press conference marking his 100 days in office, “I think we’re off to a good start, but it’s just a start”.
The Conference Committee met this week to decide on the Budget Conference Agreement, which is basically a compromise between both chambers’ budget resolutions. The House just voted on the agreement and passed it 233-193. The agreement preserves Obama’s call for investment in health care reform, clean energy and affordable education. The budget agreement also includes reconciliation instructions for health care reform and education, to protect the future bills from being blocked by a minority of Senators.
The Senate is expected to vote on the budget agreement later today. Check out this article from the NY Times for more.
No, it’s not a headline from The Onion…as Think Progress reports, Rep. John Beohner (R-OH) announced yesterday that the House GOP is creating the American Energy Solutions Group, meant to “work on crafting Republican solutions to lower energy prices for American families and small businesses.”
So just who is going to be part of this group? According to the press release, the group will be led by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), a vocal opponent of cap and trade, and will also include none other than Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL), both notorious deniers of global warming. Shimkus, you’ll remember, likened cap and trade to “an assault on democracy” just last week.
Here’s hoping they come up with some real solutions, but something tells us they are going to have a tough time of it.
“They are gearing up for battle. So am I. They will fight for their special interests. I will fight for…American students and their families. And for those who care about America’s future, this is a battle we can’t afford to lose.”
– President Obama responding to the “army of lobbyists” gathering to combat proposed student loan reform in the budget.
Today at the White House, President Obama met with a family struggling with student loans, reaffirming his commitment to making college more affordable. Here is a highlight from his remarks:
“…in a paradox of American life, at the very moment it’s never been more important to have a quality higher education, the cost of that kind of that kind of education has never been higher. Over the past few decades, the cost of tuition at private colleges has more than doubled, while costs at public institutions have nearly tripled. Compounding the problem, tuition has grown ten times faster than a typical family’s income, putting new pressure on families that are already strained and pricing far too many students out of college altogether. Yet, we have a student loan system where we’re giving lenders billions of dollars in wasteful subsidies that could be used to make college more affordable for all Americans.”
“…I am confident that if all of us here in Washington do what’s in the best interests of the people we represent, and reinvest not only in opening the doors of college but making sure students can walk through them, then we will help deliver the change that the American people sent us here to make. We will help Americans fulfill their promise as individuals. And we will help America fulfill its promise as a nation.”
The House and Senate voted this week to go to conference on the budget and has already struck a tentative deal on major elements of the budget resolution to include the fast-track procedure of reconciliation for health care reform and student loan initiatives, specifically, eliminating wasteful subsidies to private lenders and using that money for need-based grants. The reconciliation procedure would make these initiatives immune to filibuster, or obstruction, in the Senate, and is especially key to pass programs like health care reform. Unfortunately, the Senate voted Thursday to prohibit use of reconciliation to pass a cap and trade program that will combat global warming. The Senate has been against reconciliation for the budget thus far – especially over cap and trade – but the possibility of its use for health care and education is great news!
Both chambers of Congress plan to hold a formal conference committee meeting on April 27 and Democrats hope to have a final budget resolution by the time Obama has marked his 100 days in office next week.
The House and Senate have appointed their conferees – those that will represent each chamber of Congress in the debate over the final budget outcome – and the conferees are……(drum roll)
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI). Rep. Ryan is a ranking member of the House Budget Committee and has been very vocal over the spending in the budget. One of his main messages is “Cut Spending” and he supported the Republican Budget Alternative, which favored spending on national defense and veteran’s health care, as well as permanently extending the 2001/2003 tax relief provisions – which gives huge tax breaks to the top income bracket. (This alternative budget was defeated).
Rep. Rosa Delauro (D-CT) Rep. DeLauro voted to pass the House Budget Resolution and supports energy reform and affordable higher education. She has spoken out against the defeated Republican Budget Alternative and is against budget cuts that will harm vital programs like health care and nutrition programs.
Wow…as Think Progress reports, yesterday during a hearing Rep. Shimkus, an outspoken opponent of the President’s green energy plan, said that proposed climate legislation in the budget represents “…the largest assault on democracy and freedom in this country that I’ve ever experienced.”
Check out the video below:
You can also read more about the GOP and climate skepticism here.
This blog post from Grist gives a good overview of how hearings went yesterday in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and mentions specifically moves on the part of conservatives in an attempt to counteract progressive voices:
“There were four separate panels on the climate bill on Wednesday, involving 21 witnesses. The fourth was added at the last minute to accommodate witnesses whom the minority members of the panel had requested, including representatives from conservative outposts like the Heritage Foundation, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and the American Enterprise Institute. The hearings stretched on for more than 10 hours, and by the end, as few as four members of the committee were actually present to hear testimony.”
We need to keep applying pressure to our representatives to make clear to them why we need a clean energy economy now. Take action and make your voice heard!
A story today in USA Today talks about what many college students and their parents already know: tuition is creeping higher and higher:
“Though 2009-2010 tuition rates have not been set for most public universities, increases of at least 5% to 6% — and in many cases higher — are expected as university administrators struggle to maintain quality education amid state budget cuts.”
And, the money quote:
“U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan stresses the importance of affordability amid the budget and fundraising crises. ‘Colleges that go the wrong way on this — I think they’re going to see students walk away.’ “
Now, more than ever, we need to make sure that we are giving money to students, not banks, and that the grants students are receiving are as generous as possible. Obama’s budget plan would do that. Take action today and tell your elected officials why we need to back Obama’s budget proposals for higher education!
The Wall Street Journal has a piece today about the first round of arguments in the climate change debate taking place in Congress. Most notably, the EPA presented new analysis of the bill put forward by Reps. Waxman and Markey on the House Energy Committee, stating that the plan would cost consumers far less than the nearly $3,000 a year per household that many opponents have referenced.
Funding our Future is a campaign to pass a progressive federal budget for 2010 and ensure that our nation.s key economic choices invest in our education, spark reform of our health care system, and address climate change through cap and trade and clean energy investments. Click here for more info.
We would like to extend our thanks to the hundreds of Representatives and Senators who voted to carry out the promise of true change that so many of us voted for in November. The final budget resolution, passed last night in the House and Senate, represents a foundation for moving forward with legislation that supports the goals laid out by President Obama’s budget: providing quality health care for all Americans, investing in clean energy and making education more affordable and accessible.
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)
Rep. Allen Boyd (D-FL) 
Rep. John Spratt (D-SC)