Budget

A group of 41 Senate Democrats say they oppose a House-passed measure that cuts federal funding for family planning programs, including Planned Parenthood. 

The proposal passed as an amendment to the House GOP's government funding plan and is a key element of the spending debate on Capitol Hill. In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the group called the cuts "extreme."

"We write to you today to affirm our strong support for making women’s health and family planning services affordable and available, and ask that you stand with us against extreme proposals by some members of the House to eliminate support for women’s health and family planning programs and providers that serve millions of women and families," reads the letter, which was organized by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). "We also oppose the provision in the House-passed continuing resolution that cuts Planned Parenthood health centers off from federal funds."

The Republican proposal is one of several policy "riders" to the spending plan passed by the House that remains a major sticking point in negotiations between both parties. 

If Democrats and Republicans cannot agree on a bill that funds the government through the end of the fiscal year by Friday, it would likely trigger a government shutdown. 

Any spending plan would need the support of 60 senators to break a potential filibuster.

Democratic leaders have insisted a bill with the riders attached would be a non-starter in the Senate, and the amount of signatures on Boxer's letter illustrate that point. Twelve members of the Senate Democratic caucus did not sign the letter. 

But Republicans are facing major pressure from conservative activists to keep the cuts intact. The anti-abortion-rights group Susan B. Anthony List released statements Monday from five potential Republican presidential candidates voicing their support for the amendment, proposed by Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.).

Several centrist GOP senators have voiced opposition to cuts to family planning programs, such as Sens. Scott Brown (Mass.), Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska). But none signed the Democratic letter.

The full letter and list of signers can be found below the jump:

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More than 350 economists and other experts are demanding that House and Senate leaders tackle entitlement reform in the 2012 budget.

Their open letter to congressional leaders cites the healthcare reform law, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security as "the greatest budgetary threats" facing the nation. Circulated by the conservative American Action Forum, the letter comes one day before House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is expected to unveil a 2012 budget that radically transforms the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

"There can be no greater national priority than reducing the prospective explosion of federal debt," the letter reads. "Reforming entitlements must be at the top of the agenda for the 112th Congress."

Democrats' healthcare reform act would in fact shrink the deficit by some $210 billion between 2012 and 2021, according to the Congressional Budget Office. However, many conservatives — including American Action Forum President Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the former CBO director under President George W. Bush — argue that the law will instead add hundreds of billions of dollars to the deficit, in part because of unsustainable cuts to Medicare payments.

This week, all eyes will be on Capitol Hill to see if lawmakers can hammer out a spending agreement that will yet again avert a government shutdown.

The current continuing resolution will fund the government through April 8, and Republicans and Democrats are still haggling over a long-term spending package. With conservatives pushing for deep cuts and contentious policy riders as part of any agreement, Congress still has work to do if it wants to keep the government up and running for the rest of the fiscal year.

Next year’s budget will also be a hot topic this week, as House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is slated to unveil his 2012 budget resolution on Tuesday. Ryan will likely propose changes to Medicare and Medicaid, but will stop short of specific recommendations on Social Security.

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A majority of Americans would support a government shutdown if it meant Congress would make deeper spending cuts, a new poll has found.

According to a new survey from Rasmussen Reports, 57 percent of likely US voters said making deeper spending cuts in the federal budget is a higher priority than preventing a partial government shtudown. Thirty-one percent said they disagreed, with another 12 percent saying they were not sure.

That is little changed from the last time Rasmussen polled on the issue, as 58 percent of voters favored a shutdown if meant bigger cuts in February.

The poll comes as Democrats and Republicans are engaged in fierce debate on Capitol Hill as they work to put together a spending package that would fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year. The latest short-term continuing resolution passed by Congress will expire at the end of the day on Friday, with a government shutdown looming if a deal can not be reached.

Lawmakers have twice now averted a shutdown with short-term spending measures, but conservative Republicans indicated this week that their patience is running thin, and they want to pass a single long-term bill for the rest of the year.

Leaders on both sides of the aisle have said they do not want to see the government shut down, with lawmakers accusing opponents of rooting for a government freeze.

According to the poll, Republican voters are more likely to back a shutdown than Democrats. Seventy-six percent of GOP voters made big spending cuts a higher priority than averting a shutdown, while 54 percent of Democrats disagreed. Voters that are not affiliated with either party side more often with Republicans, with 67 percent favoring cuts over preventing a shutdown.

In the midst of the standoff, President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) hit a common note Friday, as both warned that a shutdown would have adverse economic consequences.  A plurality of those polled agreed with them. Forty-four percent of voters think a shutdown would be bad for the economy, while 23 percent think it would actually be good for it. Democrats are more than twice as likely to think a shutdown would be bad for the economy than Republicans or unaffiliated voters, Rasmussen said.

A senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee said Friday that he believes there is a 40 percent shot the government will shut down next week. 

But Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) also told The Hill in an interview that he would not vote for a spending measure that would end up cutting $33 billion this year, a figure that the White House and Senate Democrats have reportedly suggested. 

“That would cut needed programs to the bone,” said Moran, who noted the floated total would be around $74 billion below what President Obama requested for this fiscal year. “I think at some point you have to take a stand.”

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Subprime bonds that helped set off the financial crisis are gaining favor again with some investors.

Federal workers — once again — are worrying about the possibility of a government shutdown.

Median pay for CEOs jumped 27 percent in 2010, compared to just 2.7 percent growth for all private workers.

The regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is taking issue with how top executives at the agencies were paid large salaries.

Documents released by the Federal Reserve indicate the central bank lent to a wide variety of institutions during the financial crisis.

Federal spending on the housing sector increased in 2009 as multiple programs were funded to address the problems in the market created by the 2008 financial crisis, according to an analysis by Pew Charitable Trusts.

The federal government spent $244 billion on housing-related grants and tax expenditures likely to contain subsidies in fiscal year 2009, or about $2,085 per household, the majority focused on homeownership rather than rentals, according to Pew's project Subsidyscope, which includes about 10 years of information on subsidies in housing, transportation, energy, health and the financial bailout. 

The government also provided $4 billion in direct loans, and $688 billion in loan guarantees for housing-related activities, including guarantees of securities backed by loans already carrying a federal guarantee, the report said. 

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Former Speaker Newt Gingrich insisted Thursday that Republicans will “fight to get $61 billion” in spending cuts this year.

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Former Obama White House economic adviser Christina Romer has joined 67 other budget experts in calling on the president to strike a grand deficit bargain with Congress as soon as possible.

Romer left her position as chairwoman of the Council of Economic Advisers in 2010 and was a chief proponent of the 2009 stimulus package, which added $800 billion to the deficit. She is now arguing for short-term stimulus and longer-term budget discipline.

The letter from 68 experts sent Thursday follows up on a letter from 64 senators to President Obama this month urging him to broaden discussions on 2011 spending to include a wider deficit package.

They wrote “we urge you to engage in a broader discussion about a comprehensive deficit reduction package. Specifically, we hope that the discussion will include discretionary spending cuts, entitlement changes and tax reform.” The 68 experts concur in their letter.

Other notable signatories include former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volker, Reagan economic adviser Martin Feldstein, former Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and Bush economic adviser Glenn Hubbard.

A top House Democrat said he will fight GOP plans to turn Medicaid into a block grant system.

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