The SCHIP Campaign Is Probably Over

It now appears that the SCHIP expansion is sunk. CQ (subscription) is reporting that a one-year extension for SCHIP, with some additional funds to prevent cuts, will be tied to a bill that tweaks Medicare payments. That means a funding increase will have to wait until probably the year after next.

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Obey Not In It for the Fight

As Dana mentioned in his post earlier this morning, House Appropriations Chair David Obey is abandoning a "split the difference" approach to passing a budget, because the president is sticking to his guns and insisting that any budget presented by Congress total less than his $933 billion "top line" figure.

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I Never Thought I'd Want Rosie Back, But...

The newest addition to The View, Whoopi Goldberg, is telling viewers that she wants to repeal the estate tax. Here's EPI's Jared Bernstein on her misinformation campaign.

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The Sound of One Party Negotiating, Part II

Sound and Fury, Signifying Nothing Another budget deal was scuttled with nine legislative days left in the year when the White House issued a veto threat over the weekend on the "split the difference" approach. It's plus ca change all over again. The only sound you hear, once again, is House Appropriations Chair David Obey, sick and tired of negotating with himself:

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Some Good Contracting News

Sen. Jim Webb's office is saying that the Defense authorization act will include provisions to set up a commission to investigate wartime contracting. The bill is expected to pass later this week. It'll be very interesting to what kinds of recommendations and findings the commission produces. The Defense bill will also reform a number of contracting administration rules.

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"A Bad Patch" -- Next Steps on the AMT Bill

House PAYGO Rules Requiring a Waiver Will be Watched This weekend, the Washington Post editorialized on what it deems "A Bad Patch," the bill moving through Congress to "patch" the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). Congress has taken pains to make sure all of its measures this year that raise mandatory spending or cut taxes are revenue-neutral, to comply with the fiscal discipline requirements of the "PAYGO" rules Congress passed this year.

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NYT: Social Security Backlog

The New York Times has a great article on backlogs in the Social Security Administration. Another example of where more funding and staffing is needed for government to do its job.

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More Veto Threats For Appropriations

The White House is threatening to veto the latest appropriations gambit. What was it that Einstein said about people who try the same thing over and over again expecting a different result? Update: Stan Collender's insights into what happened.

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Equality and Individualism

Via (who else but) Inclusionist, I checked out Chapter 6 of Prof. George Lakoff's new book on progressive strategy. Take a look at this paragraph on economic equality: For progressives, deservedness is understood through the lens of nurturance, which says that someone in need deserves assistance. This satisfies the "human dignity principle," making sure no one falls too far behind. It also fulfills the "common good principle," since the needs of the commons are counted as valid needs that merit attention, besides just the needs of an individual.

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CBO Monthly Budget Update: November, 2007

CBO estimates that the federal government recorded a deficit of $157 billion for the first two months of fiscal year 2008, about $35 billion more than the deficit recorded for the same period last year. Outlays were about $50 billion (or 11 percent) higher than they were in 2007, while revenues were about $15 billion (or 5 percent) higher. CBO: Monthly Budget Review

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