12 Heavily Armed Gunslingers Standing in a Pool of Gasoline
Aug 03, 2011
The deed is done. The debt ceiling deal has been signed into law.
Next up: a super duper commission of 12 Members of Congress, evenly divided between Senate and House and Democrats and Republicans.
And each is going to be heavily armed in a very dangerous territory.
Either the Terrible Twelve – or is it the Terrific Twelve -- come to an agreement on $1.2 - $1.5 trillion (or more) in deficit reductions or else.
Or else, an automatic reduction, called sequestration in budget parlance, of $1.2 trillion goes into effect, cutting equally domestic programs and the Pentagon.
Republicans have been unanimous that “No New Taxes” be included in the agreement just approved or in the next round of negotiations.
Democrats are telling Republicans, you may have won the last round on taxes, but not the next round.
Defense Appropriations Bill approved by House Appropriations Committee
Jun 15, 2011
Yesterday, the House Appropriations Committee approved its version of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 Defense Appropriations Bill. The bill contains $530 billion in funding for non-war programs and accounts, an increase of $17 billion over FY 2011 and a decrease of approximately $9 billion from the President’s request.
In addition to $530 billion in base spending, the bill contains $118.7 billion in spending for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, $842 million above the President’s request and $39 billion less than FY 2011, a decrease due to the drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq. This total includes $12.8 billion for the training and equipping of Afghan Security forces, and $1.1 billion for the Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund (PCCF), which has moved from the subcommittee on State/Foreign Operations to the subcommittee on defense.
The total in the bill is $648.7 billion. Other portions of defense spending are contained in the Military Construction and Energy and Water Appropriations Bills.
The bill is expected to be considered by the full House of Representatives the week of June 20. It is expected that germane amendments will be permitted.
House Acts on U.S. Military Engagement Abroad – A Bit Less Cautiously
Jun 07, 2011
By Executive Director John Isaacs
Color me surprised.
I recently wrote about votes in the House of Representatives signaling rising discontent with the use of military force abroad – but also pointed out that Members of Congress are not ready to take back the right to declare war.
The House came close to a majority vote against the Afghanistan War for the first time when it narrowly rejected (by a vote of 204 – 215) an amendment by Reps. Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Walter Jones (R-NC). While the bill called for a withdrawal plan, it did not call for cutting off funding for the war.
At the time, I expressed skepticism that a resolution offered by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) to force the removal of U.S. armed forces from Libya would to get into the triple digits of support.
Wrong! Kucinich received 148 votes, including an incredibly high number of 87 Republicans. It used to be Kucinich was toxic to Republicans – and to many Democrats. No longer.
In fact, a vote on the Kucinich resolution was delayed in the House so that Speaker John Boehner could put forward an alternative resolution to draw Republican votes from Kucinich.
The Boehner resolution rebuked the President for his Libya policy, but did not require a troop withdrawal. His resolution was adopted by a stunning 268-145.
Cynics in Washington, D.C. – is there anyone but cynics here – naturally assume that many Republicans are willing to repudiate a Democratic President but would have slavishly followed a Republican.
Prospects for nuclear arms control over the next 18 months
Jun 06, 2011
Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs Conference
Carnegie Council, U.S. Army War College
U.S. Global Engagement: Report of Two Years of Activities
The Pocantico Center
June 1-3, 2011
Thank you for inviting me to participate in the conference.
I am delighted only to have to comment on Stephen Blank’s paper rather than do any original thinking or writing myself.
And while he focused more on the broader U.S.-Russian reset question, I will focus more narrowly on nuclear weapons and treaty issues between the two questions.
When I first gave a talk for the Carnegie Council a year and a half ago, I was brimming with confidence about the ambitious Obama Administration agenda on nuclear issues, particularly after the President’s wide-ranging and terrific speech in Prague, the Czech Republic in April 2009.
While there has been important progress since that speech, that progress has not led to great momentum on other parts of that nuclear agenda, at least not in the immediate future.
But the immediate future is just that; I think we can look to make more progress beginning in 2013.
The Sanchez Missile Defense Amendment in Perspective
May 26, 2011
(from the inestimable Kingston Reif)
Rep. Loretta Sanchez (C-CA) Missile Defense Amendment Result
FY 2012 Defense National Defense Authorization Act – To reduce funding for the ground-based mid-course system by $100 million
Amendment failed 184-234 (15 GOP Ayes; 16 DEM Nays), May 26, 2011
(GOP in Majority)
House Armed Services Mark of the Defense Authorization
May 20, 2011
In case you're not keeping up with every little step in the budget process, we've got you covered. New up on our sister site today is a summary of the most important and/or controversial provisions and amendments contained within the House Armed Services Committee's mark of the Defense Authorization bill last week. If you'd also like to read the full text of the bill and report you can do so here.
By a vote of 60 to 1, the House Armed Services Committee approved $553 billion for the Pentagon’s base budget, a 4.1% increase over appropriations for FY 2011, along with an additional $118 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, matching the administration’s request on both counts.
The full House is expected to consider the bill the week of May 23. Many of the provisions listed below may be challenged on the House floor.
(More below the jump)
Pogo, Libya & War Powers
Apr 20, 2011
When the Obama Administration launched military operations against Libya, a number of Members of Congress griped about a usurpation of the congressional power to declare war.
Rather than denounce Obama – or Bush in Iraq or Reagan in Panama or Truman in Korea – they should in reality protest their own inaction.
For the fault, Dear Brutus, lies not in our stars but in the lap of Congress.
Or as Pogo said, "We have met the enemy and he is us."
President Obama announced March 18 that the United States was prepared to use military force to establish a “no fly” zone and strike against Muarmmar Qaddafi’s forces.
While the President’s action was backed by a U.N. Security Council resolution, he declined to ask for a congressional authorization.
Congress approves FY 2011 appropriations - Finally!
Apr 15, 2011
Speaker John Boehner
The deed is done.
More than six months after the beginning of Fiscal Year 2011, Congress has finally approved funding for the government through September 30.
It took an 11th hour agreement this past Friday and then it took bi-partisan votes in the House and Senate yesterday to make it happen.
It was a messy process, and remained messy yesterday.
While the compromise agreement was touted as $38 billion in cuts, there were, as usual, some squirrely cuts to smooth the deal.
It turns out that the hard-won deal included about $13 - $18 billion of cuts that were kind of smoke and mirror reductions, cuts of money that would not have been spent in any case.
In addition, the Congressional Budget Office analyzed the agreement, and concluded and the net effect of the reductions in this fiscal year is $352 million in outlays. There the problem is that the agreement covered budget authority (the authority to spend money) while the money actually spent each fiscal year is called outlays.
Living With Half a Loaf
Apr 13, 2011
If I am ever involved in a legislative battle where we win a complete and total victory without any provisions and deals we do not like, I will know that either I am no longer of this world or have sunk into dementia.
Yesterday we learned that Congress will appropriate $2.3 billion for non-proliferation funding, a 9% increase from last year’s funding level and $241 million above the House level.
Some of us have hailed the result as a victory. The non-proliferation program recovered a good deal of the funds that the House had cut and won an increase while many other programs were cut back.
Others pointed out that while the final number was better than that produced by the House, it still was not full funding. We don’t know the final allocation of funds by the Department of Energy. Congress at the same time approved a large increase in funding for nuclear complex modernization.
Part of the policy process in Washington, D.C. is that winning 100%, total success on an issue without compromises and encumbrances rarely if ever happens.
The Continuing Resolution Saga Continues
Mar 15, 2011
(http://livableworld.org/calendar/)
The Continuing Resolution saga continues. Last week, the Senate rejected both the House and the Senate Appropriations Committee versions of a bill to fund the government for the rest of Fiscal Year 2011.
On March 9, the Senate rejected the House-passed Continuing Resolution that would have cut the President's budget by $100 billion by a vote of 44 - 56 and a Senate Appropriations Committee version that would cut $51 billion from the President's request by a vote of 42 - 58.
On Friday, March 11, the House Appropriations Committee proposed another short-term Continuing Resolution to fund the government until April 8.
The House is expected to vote on the bill on March 15 -- beware of the ides of March. The Senate should vote later this week.
