Dayen at FDL: Democrats bought Planned Parenthood’s continued life for between $1-$4 billion

[seafan]

Sounds like extortion to me.


David Dayen over at Firedoglake has the scoop on what is going down in the prelude to tonight's governmental shutdown.


He indicates that Marc Ambinder at the National Journal has just reported that Democrats appear to have accepted an increased level of cuts in exchange for the GOP dropping the Planned Parenthoood rider from the negotiations.



Dayen:

.....

Essentially, Democrats bought Planned Parenthood’s continued life for between $1-$4 billion, depending on who you believe.

You have to go back to the initial numbers to see the magnitude of this policy loss. In December, when a continuing resolution for the rest of the year was getting negotiated, the level of funding for FY 2011 was markedly higher than it will be under this deal. Ryan Grim runs the numbers.

The difference comes from the starting point. Democrats are working off of the president’s requested budget for the fiscal year, which was $1.128 trillion. That’s the same baseline that House Republicans used when they cut $102 billion with their first bill, H.R. 1, bringing the spending down to $1.026 trillion.

But there is a number that realistically could have become law, and that’s the one that was proposed by Sens. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.). Known as the Sessions-McCaskill level, it blew up in December over a fight over earmarks, but it had the broad support of both parties in general.

That figure was $1.108 trillion — $58 billion above what Democrats are now willing to accept.

That was written before this latest deal, so it’s actually $59 billion. And the benefit for exchanging the Making Work Pay tax cut with the payroll tax cut, one of the only changes in the tax cut deal that didn’t simply extend current law? $60 billion. So if you accept that Democrats could have gotten Sessions-McCaskill into the tax cut deal, four months later almost the ENTIRE stimulus from the payroll tax cut is gone. Completely. As Ryan notes, “The focus on Planned Parenthood may be distracting from a dramatic GOP victory on spending.”

The $513 defense budget is precisely the level that Senate appropriators targeted back in December. So the defense budget is basically getting out of this untouched. Republicans tried to up that defense budget above the Pentagon’s request, so that was beaten back.

This means that all $29 billion in cuts – remember $10 billion have already been enacted – will come from the non-defense budget. The latest on that is that about half will come from the discretionary budget, and half from mandatory spending. This spreads the pain, but there’s a great deal of uncertainty about what those cuts will mean in the specifics.

The stopgap bill would just keep operations continuous and ensure military pay.

Once the politics are over, we can assess the policy with clear eyes. And I think you’ll find that the failure to put the 2011 budget to bed in the last Congress cost the economy $60 billion.

The current crop occupying Washington who claim to be looking out for the little people are proving themselves irretrievably worthless.

[KoKo]

1. Both MSNBC and CNBC all afternoon had Dems out there saying they Gave Repugs 78% of What they Wanted

They kept using that figure. Our Dems kept saying that they just "wouldn't give up 'The Rights of Women to Health Care." It seemed designed to make it seem they were standing up for Women...but if you give away 78% to Repugs and are proud of it...but use "Womens Health" as your last stand....then it demeans women and makes you look like a sell out.

I thought it was disgusting the way they were proud of the huge 78% COMPROMISE...and the last bit was to throw a bone to WOMEN?...Women Voters? :wtf: is in that 78% that they gave to the Repugs? Is it Head Start, Education Funding,Funding for Kids Lunches and Meals on Wheels for Seniors that they cut so they could do a big "slap on their back" standing firm for Women's Health Care and Birth Control?????

What else will they and did they already give away, if they hold women so cheap..to be used as a pawn of last resort..UGH!

[tnlefty]

2. But, but, but Head Start, Education funding, Funding for Kids

Lunches and meals on wheels don't effect women.Jeeze. Women, children, the poor, and the elderly apparently are invisible.

[FLAprogressive]

3. Those groups don't have big lobbying orgs. which give money to Dems in elections.

And that's why they got axed.

[tnlefty]

6. Apoligies, apparently I needed the sarcasm tag,

when I thought it was obvious. :hi:

[roguevalley]

4. more of us get fucked so they can come back and get planned

parenthood on another week. I hate this country sometimes.

[seafan]

5. These Democrats capitulated 78% to the party that controls 33% of our government.

It does now seem that the flap over Planned Parenthood is providing cover for a much larger capitulation to the GOP in additional cuts.


I have @#*(%&$ had it with all of these people. Every last one of them should be swept out into the sewer. The screeching nutbags, the greedy old perverts, the blood sucking parasites, the war profiteers, the silken orators. All of them.



The only one left whom I have any respect for is Bernie Sanders.



Edited to add:

The one F'ing thing that has caused all of this forced austerity on regular people is tax evasion by the very rich.


Tax their a$$e@ and TAX THEM NOW.

And stop these GD*^&$%#$$^%&ing WARS.

[tnlefty]

7. Shush, if you mention those things,

many will get upset. And we can't have that.

[cui bono]

8. KnR