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The Congressional Budget Office released a new analysis of the state fiscal aid bill set for a vote this morning in the Senate, and this time, it actually reduces the budget deficit by $1.4 billion dollars within the 10-year budget window. Which means that the bill will now save hundreds of thousands of jobs, provide health care to the poor, keep cops on the streets and teachers in the classroom, and cut the deficit. Oh, and close loopholes that allow corporations to ship jobs overseas, something Democrats have been muttering about since at least 2004.
There is, of course, that nagging $6.7 billion dollar cut to food stamps starting in 2014. Labor leaders have vowed to try and restore that money over the next four years, and in the meantime savor the benefits of the aid package.
Harry Reid released this statement:
“The CBO has concluded that our amendment to save 140,000 teachers’ jobs and tens of thousands of first responders’ jobs does more than just keep these selfless Americans from being laid off: it also will reduce the budget deficit by $1.4 billion over the next decade. Our plan to keep teachers in the classroom, police officers on the beat and firefighters on call is not only fully paid-for, but it also saves taxpayers money.
“This amendment meets every test Republicans claim to be concerned about. They have no more excuses, and tomorrow, they will have a choice: lay off teachers weeks before the new school year starts and fire the first responders who keep us safe, or help these workers keep their jobs and help our economy recover.”
This is going to come down to Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, and pretty much everybody knows it. Americans United for Change unleashed a brutal new ad, seen above, basically blaming the Maine twins for skyrocketing class sizes and absent first responders during tragedies. They basically hold the fate of hundreds of thousands of public workers in their hands.
The vote is tentatively scheduled for this morning, around 10:30 am ET. Democratic leaders have scheduled a press conference for 11.
UPDATE: Looking at the revamped CBO score, Democrats made further cuts to the food stamp program in this pass, cutting a total of $11.9 billion starting in 2014, including an actual year-to-year benefit cut, rather than a slower rise. So there’s even more work to do to restore those cuts before they hit poor families.
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If Obama is Popeye, then he depends way too much on fickle Olive Oyl to get things done.
so, where does the money come from to make this “positive,” and why is that a good thing?
I have a bridge that I have been trying to sell for years….finally a buyer.
“Oh, and close loopholes that allow corporations to ship jobs overseas, something Democrats have been muttering about since at least 2004.”
What loophole is it exactly that allows corporations to decide where to base their operations? Is there some law against employing furriners that has this loophole in it?
Yep.
OT– Did I miss it? What happened to Pigford and Cobell?
Are there no Democratic voters in Nebraska who will call Ben Nelson’s office? Apparently he only listens to the hysterical ginned up radical Republican callers in the proper zipcodes. Or so he says.
Call him on it.
As someone who works with public benefits, I can tell you that unless there is a HUGE turnaround not just in employment but in average household income, slashing food stamps will be devastating.
20-25% of households in western North Carolina receive this assistance, to give a regional example.
They never got around to Pigford and Cobell, which would in the eyes of the Senate cost money, even though it would save money in the long run because otherwise the litigants could sue the government for even more.