Congress aiming low in new budget talks, as Reid dismisses entitlement reform as 'happy talk'

Congressional Democrats and Republicans are setting low expectations about budget talks scheduled to begin next week -- with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid dismissing as 'happy talk' any notion of a grand bargain that would include cuts to entitlement programs.

The Nevada Democrat won't be directly involved in the formal House-Senate budget negotiations set to begin Wednesday. But he has been among the most overt in blaming the opposite party -- even before the talks begin. And he has given perhaps the bleakest assessment for a potential compromise on tax increases and cuts to entitlement spending.

"You keep talking about Medicare and Social Security," Reid said on Thursday, cutting off a Nevada Public Radio host. "Get something else in your brain. Stop talking about that. ... There is not going to be a grand bargain."

He also said Republicans would have to agree on tax-revenue increases for Congress to achieve a large-scale agreement, but they instead have their mind set on "nothing more on revenue."

"And until they get off that kick, there's not going to be a grand bargain," Reid said. "There's not going to be a small bargain. The only people who feel there shouldn't be more [tax money] coming in to the federal government from the rich people are the Republicans in the Congress. Everybody else, including the rich people, is willing to pay more. They want to pay more."

Via: Fox News Political

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Gov. Brown Says Prop 30 Taxes Are All About Schools — Not So

Governor Jerry Brown kicked off his campaign to pass Proposition 30 on August 15, showcasing what Dan Schnur, Director of the USC Jesse Unruh Institute of Politics called “the most expensive ransom note in California political history” – pass the tax increase or the schools get it. The problem is that this tax increase proposal comes with no reforms for school funding, let alone other big-ticket items like pensions, and is likely a band-aid that would lead to more taxes in the future.

The schools are the focus of Brown’s kick-off at a school location but they are not the focus of the funds raised by the initiative.

The schools get no guaranteed new money from Prop 30. That’s not me saying so, that’s a comment from the California School Boards Association quoted in a Sacramento Bee article. “Despite endorsing Brown’s measure, (California School Boards Association) leaders said they ‘want to make it clear to the public that the governor’s initiative does not provide new funding for schools. Instead, it bolsters the General Fund with new revenue.’”

A Wall Street Journal editorial stated that, “The dirty little secret is that the new revenues are needed to backfill the insolvent teachers pension fund.”

Note that the School Boards Association pointed out that the new funding “bolsters the General Fund.” The association is not the only observer to recognize that this tax increase is about the General Fund. The Legislative Analyst Office’s report on Prop 30 stated:  “The new tax revenues would be available to fund programs in the state budget.”

Via: CA Political Review

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