�鶹Ů��

Republicans in Congress advanced balanced-budget plans bristling with cuts in Medicaid and other benefit programs Thursday, determined to make a down payment on last fall’s campaign promise to erase deficits by the end of the decade. ... Yet the GOP’s focus also extended to deficit reduction, repeal of the health care law, an overhaul of the tax code and other budget priorities long advocated by conservatives in control of both houses of Congress for the first time in nearly a decade. (3/19)

Budget resolutions do not have the force of law and don't require the president's signature, but they do set the rules for the remainder of the year in funding federal agencies and, if both chambers pass the same document, allow for fast-track procedures to approve certain legislation without having to overcome a Senate filibuster. The GOP budgets, which aim to be balanced in a decade through cuts and changes to Medicare and other domestic spending, will not receive any Democratic votes because they are viewed as overly punitive. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said also said the GOP proposals would cut Pell grants for college tuition, slash nutrition programs and lead to higher medical and drug costs for seniors. (Kane and DeBonis, 3/19)

House Republican leaders confronted that truth again this week when fiscal conservatives unexpectedly blocked a leadership plan for the new federal budget. ... GOP Rep. Tim Huelskamp of Kansas, a frequent Boehner critic, taunted the speaker for recently working with the House’s top Democrat to seek a long-term solution to Medicare reimbursement rates for doctors. When reporters asked Huelskamp on Thursday about Boehner’s fallback plan to tackle the latest budget quarrel in the Rules Committee, the Kansan asked sarcastically: “Did Nancy Pelosi approve that one? Oh, no, that’s the doc fix.” (Babington and Kellman, 3/20)

Even more important for the GOP, the budget process gives Republicans their best procedural tools for passing other measures -- including a repeal of Obama's healthcare law -- on a simple majority vote, circumventing Democratic filibusters. Though Obama could still veto such bills, the promise of passing a bill to undo the Affordable Care Act has become a strong pull to convince the deficit sharks to go along with the extra military spending, without contingencies. Obama has sharply criticized the overall GOP blueprint as more of the same trickle-down economics that provide tax breaks in hopes of spurring economic growth, while deeply cutting domestic programs, including Medicare. (Mascaro, 3/19)

A correction to the House Republican budget released this week could mean far deeper cuts for federal employees than the original document suggested, further alarming government workers and their unions already upset about hits they have taken in recent years. The initial version called for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to identify $100 million in savings over a decade from mandatory spending programs within its jurisdiction, which includes the federal-worker retirement and health plans. But the amount was supposed to be $1 billion — 10 times larger than first advertised. (Hicks, 3/19)