4-03-09, 9:17 am
Both the House and Senate passed federal budget outlines for fiscal year 2010 on Thursday, April 2, which were mainly in keeping with President Obama's priorities.
The budget outlines provide a means for Congress to pursue the Obama administration's health care, education and environmental policy reform agenda. The president sought the creation of a significant $634 billion fund for health care reform over the next 10 years. In addition, he has outlined new investments in public education, from preschool to college, that will be accompanied by reforms to improve access and quality. On the issue of environmental and energy policy, the president will work with Congress to create climate change legislation that reduces emissions that cause global warming, investing instead in renewable energy resources.
Neither budget renews the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, but do continue the Obama tax cuts for working families which were passed as part of the economic stimulus package in February and went into effect April 1.
A last-minute Republican budget alternative introduced in the House would have privatized Medicare and slashed its benefits, eliminated economic stimulus funds, gutted investments in education, health care and renewable energy, while doubling military and war spending. In addition, Republicans proposed eliminating the Obama tax cuts for middle class families in favor of a massive new tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.
This plan was soundly defeated, failing to even garner unanimous support among Republicans. A similar bill offered by former GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), met a similar fate in the Senate.
Labor-led coalitions, along with national groups like MoveOn.org and Democracy for America, have jumped into the political battle to pass the substantive policies outlined in the budget.
Democracy for America launched its campaign for a 'public option' as part of health care reform. According to e-mails to its supporters from the group's leader, Gov. Howard Dean, the goal is to pass a health reform plan in 2009 that provides all Americans with an option to keep their existing private insurance, if they prefer it, or to have a publicly provided option like Medicare. This goal is supported by the labor-backed coalition Health Care for America Now.
In March, MoveOn.org joined with other groups to open a 'Power Up America' campaign to pressure Congress to support the president's plan to pass climate change legislation that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and provides resources to invest in renewable energy, an emerging industry that the group, along with a coalition of labor and environmental groups known as the Blue-Green Alliance, sees as capable of creating as many as 5 million new jobs.
The next step in the legislative process is to reconcile the two budgets that have been passed. Hard-line GOP opposition to the president's agenda should convince congressional leaders that while the call for bipartisanship was meant with the best of intentions, Senate Republicans, who represent a scant 12 percent of the country, will attempt to use obscure Senate rules to block the meaningful reforms that a broad majority of Americans support.
For this reason, procedures should be included in the final budget that will block the use of the filibuster against key legislation such as health care reform, environmental/energy policies, and new education investments.
This is just the beginning of the political struggle in 2009. Get on your boots.
