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House GOP Using Omnibus Fight as 'Trial Run' for Ploy to Cut Social Security and Medicare, Critics Warn
"MAGA extremists in Congress are dusting off an old conservative playbook for when they seize power," said one progressive watchdog.
Dec 23, 2022
The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday passed a $1.7 trillion government funding package to avert a partial shutdown, but not before hearing the vocal objections of far-right Republicans who have signaled their plans to pursue spending cuts—specifically targeting Social Security and Medicare—once they take control of the chamber next month.
Leading up to the Senate's vote Thursday to send the omnibus to the House, dozens of Republicans spearheaded by Rep. Chip Roy of Texas urged their colleagues in the upper chamber to "use every tool possible to kill this bill," raising well-worn complaints about the national debt and threatening to do all they can to obstruct ordinary congressional business in the next session.
"If any omnibus passes in the remaining days of this Congress, we will oppose and whip opposition to any legislative priority of those senators who vote for its passage—including the Republican leader," Roy and 30 other House Republicans wrote in a letter to the Senate GOP on Wednesday. "We will oppose any rule, any consent request, suspension voice vote, or roll call vote of any such Senate bill, and will otherwise do everything in our power to thwart even the smallest legislative and policy efforts of those senators."
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who is
fighting to become the next speaker, endorsed the threat from the Republican group, which had hoped to delay work on the omnibus until the GOP assumed control of the House.
To progressive watchdogs, the House GOP's fervent campaign against the must-pass spending package offered a preview of how Republicans will wield their majority in the lower chamber to wreak havoc and pursue longstanding right-wing policy goals in 2023.
"MAGA extremists in Congress are dusting off an old conservative playbook for when they seize power—using the deficit they created with irresponsible tax breaks for billionaires and greedy corporations as an excuse to gut Social Security and Medicare benefits for America's seniors and working people," said Liz Zelnick, director of the Economic Security and Corporate Power program at Accountable.US.
The watchdog group cautioned that House Republicans are using the omnibus as "a trial run."
"The same MAGA Republicans feigning indignation about spending today stood silent as their deficit-busting Trump tax breaks rewarded highly-profitable corporations that have gouged working families on everything from gas to groceries," Zelnick added. "This is what Americans are in store for next year: MAGA extremists serving the interests of billionaires, profiteering corporations, and other special interests while asking everyone else to pay for it."
Ahead of the 2022 midterms, a number of House Republicans—including McCarthy—made clear they would be willing to use every opportunity to push for cuts to Social Security, Medicare, climate investments, and more, even if it means holding the federal government and the entire U.S. economy hostage.
And they may have two major opportunities to do so in the coming year.
The omnibus that the House approved Friday only funds the government through September 2023, setting up another spending battle that Republicans will likely attempt to use as leverage to enact elements of their deeply unpopular agenda, which includes possible Medicare benefit cuts and Social Security privatization.
A looming fight over the debt ceiling—which Democratic congressional leaders have failed to defuse despite urgent pleas from rank-and-file lawmakers and progressive campaigners—could give Republicans another chance to inflict harmful spending cuts, as they did during the debt ceiling showdown of 2011.
The U.S. government is set to reach the debt limit—an arbitrary figure set by Congress that dictates how much money the Treasury Department can borrow to meet its obligations—as soon as early 2023.
"This is what Americans are in store for next year: MAGA extremists serving the interests of billionaires, profiteering corporations, and other special interests while asking everyone else to pay for it."
President Joe Biden, who has in the past advocated Social Security cuts, pledged in October to oppose any GOP attack on the program.
"The Republican leadership in Congress has made it clear they will crash the economy next year by threatening the full faith and credit of the United States for the first time in our history, putting the United States in default, unless, unless, we yield to their demand to cut Social Security and Medicare," Biden said in a speech at the White House. "Let me be really clear: I will not yield. I will not cut Social Security. I will not cut Medicare, no matter how hard they work at it."
Mary Small, chief strategy officer for Indivisible, said Thursday that House Republicans' response to the omnibus foreshadows "what much of next year will look like: MAGA Republicans, desperate to out-extreme each other, ignoring the needs of everyday people."
"Their track record—from the January 6th select committee to this eleventh-hour funding bill—proves that they won't be partners in governance," said Small.
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Progressives Slam Omnibus Retirement Provisions as 'Giveaway to the Rich'
"The retirement changes in the omnibus package overwhelmingly benefit wealthy people... while doing almost nothing for the people who truly struggle to save for retirement," said one advocate.
Dec 20, 2022
Progressive advocacy groups and economic analysts on Tuesday denounced retirement savings-related tax changes embedded in Congress' end-of-year $1.7 trillion spending package, characterizing the pending reforms taken directly from the SECURE 2.0 Act as a "giveaway to the rich."
"This bill does not make it easier for workers to save for retirement, it just makes it easier for high-income earners to shelter more of their earnings from taxes."
According to Patriotic Millionaires, a group of wealthy tax fairness champions, the must-pass omnibus bill includes "some minor provisions to help low-income earners save for retirement, but the vast majority are designed to allow high earners to avoid paying more taxes."
Morris Pearl, the group's chair and a former managing director at BlackRock, said: "I'm tired of tax cuts for the rich being sold as help for the poor. The retirement changes in the omnibus package overwhelmingly benefit wealthy people like me while doing almost nothing for the people who truly struggle to save for retirement. This bill does not make it easier for workers to save for retirement, it just makes it easier for high-income earners to shelter more of their earnings from taxes."
"This law will make my heirs hundreds of thousands of dollars wealthier," said Pearl. "It will do virtually nothing for the worker who toasted my bagel this morning. This may be good for the children of some rich people, but in the long run, the increased inequality it creates is bad for everyone, including my own family."
"This legislation is not what America needs to help workers save for retirement," he added. "Congress should scrap SECURE 2.0 and start from scratch with something that would help all Americans, not just the rich, save for a comfortable, well-deserved retirement. A multibillion dollar tax cut for the rich should not be the last act of a Democratic Congress."
Pearl was not alone in criticizing the retirement savings-related tax provisions included in the fiscal year 2023 appropriations bill.
Sharon Parrott, president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said that some of the changes "are laudatory, such as creating a savings match for low-income savers and allowing certain kinds of savings to be tapped for emergency purposes and not just retirement."
"But others expand existing unnecessary and regressive tax subsidies for people nearing or deep into retirement," she continued. "For example, affluent people will now be able to wait until age 75 before they are required to touch their tax-favored 'retirement' account."
Parrott added that "it is particularly unfortunate that these tax cuts are in the package while a provision to allow very low-income seniors and people with disabilities to have modest savings and still qualify for income assistance through the Supplemental Security Income program was excluded, despite bipartisan efforts to include it."
In an email to Common Dreams, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) also lamented the omnibus package's inclusion of bipartisan retirement legislation that "would mainly help the well-off."
The reforms in question "will exacerbate inequality that is already pervasive in tax benefits for retirement savings," ITEP warned. "Currently, the wealthiest 40% of taxpayers receive 87% of those benefits."
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Unions Welcome $25 Million NLRB Funding Boost Included in Year-End Omnibus
"If passed by both chambers, the funding Armageddon we warned of has been avoided--for at least this year," said the NLRB Union.
Dec 20, 2022
For the first time in nearly a decade, Congress has moved to increase the annual budget of the National Labor Relations Board.
The NLRB Union, which warned last month that the federal agency tasked with enforcing U.S. labor law faces "budgetary Armageddon" and has long advocated for more resources, welcomed lawmakers' proposal to allocate an additional $25 million to the NLRB in fiscal year 2023.
"Our national nightmare is over," the NLRB Union tweeted on Tuesday morning, referring to the inclusion of the proposed funding boost in a must-pass $1.7 trillion package, half of which is devoted to military spending. If passed by the House and Senate, "the funding Armageddon we warned of has been avoided--for at least this year."
"To be clear, we were hoping for more funds," the union continued. "As we have documented, the NLRB has been left dramatically understaffed after nearly a decade of flat funding, and this is not enough to replenish the agency. But breaking the streak is a tremendous accomplishment for board advocates."
"For every employee who has faced retaliation, harassment, or surveillance simply for wanting to join a union, strengthening the NLRB will make a difference."
Because congressional Republicans have refused to approve a funding increase for the past nine years, the NLRB's annual budget has been frozen at $274.2 million since FY2014. Adjusting for inflation, the agency's budget has been cut by 25% over that time period--resulting in a hiring pause and the threat of involuntary furloughs.
Since FY2002, overall staffing at the cash-starved agency has decreased by 39%, while the number of NLRB officials who oversee union elections and investigate employer abuses has been reduced by a full 50%.
The $299.2 million NLRB budget proposed in the end-of-year omnibus bill is lower than the Biden administration's request for $319.4 million--the bare minimum required to begin rebuilding staffing capacity--and even lower than House Democrats' push for at least $368 million.
While inadequate, the pending increase was far from guaranteed before a sustained wave of agitation from progressive lawmakers and organized labor, including the NLRB Union and the NLRB Professional Association--a separate union representing 122 staff attorneys and Freedom of Information Act specialists at the agency.
"We will continue fighting for a fair budget for the NLRB and to obtain the resources necessary to carry out the agency's mission," the NLRB Union wrote Tuesday on social media. "For today, we are relieved that Congress has finally noticed our struggle and--assuming passage this week--given us a foothold for future negotiations."
AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler said in a statement that "we must get this funding over the finish line and onto President Joe Biden's desk."
"Without these funds, the NLRB is unable to do its job--enforcing workers' right to organize and engage in collective action," said Shuler. "Right now, NLRB employees face furloughs and understaffing at a historic time when workers are rising up and calling for change nationwide."
While the NLRB's budget has effectively been slashed over the past decade, its workload has soared as workers at Starbucks, Amazon, Apple, Trader Joe's, Chipotle, and other powerful corporations try to organize in the face of persistent--and often unlawful--employer opposition. The agency recently reported that from FY2021 to FY2022, the number of union representation petitions and unfair labor practice charges filed grew by 53% and 19%, respectively.
Last month, the NLRB requested a nationwide cease-and-desist order to stop Starbucks from terminating workers for engaging in legally protected union activity. In addition, a federal judge recently filed a nationwide cease-and-desist order requiring Amazon to halt retaliatory firings of pro-union workers, a move that came in response to an NLRB complaint.
"We can't stop now and let corporations freely intimidate workers who want to join a union and collectively bargain," Shuler said Tuesday. "This is a workers' rights issue. For every employee who has faced retaliation, harassment, or surveillance simply for wanting to join a union, strengthening the NLRB will make a difference."
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After Decades of Failed Policies, Congress Quietly Passes Sweeping Drug Reforms
Omnibus bill included two riders that lift federal ban on medical marijuana and loosen restrictions on needle exchange programs
Dec 21, 2015
The 2016 spending bill approved last week by U.S. Congress and signed late Friday by President Barack Obama included a measure that effectively ended the federal ban on medical marijuana and paved the way for significant reforms of the war on drugs.
"For decades, Congress has been responsible for passing disastrous drug laws," said Michael Collins, deputy director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA). "It's encouraging to see them starting to roll back the war on drugs by allowing states to set their medical marijuana policies."
One provision prevents the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) from spending money to interfere with state laws on medical marijuana—the amendment, sponsored by Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and Sam Farr (D-CA) were passed temporarily earlier this year and were up for renewal in the 2016 budget.
Congress has codified the order into law by approving it within the omnibus bill.
"Patients who benefit from medical marijuana should not be treated like dangerous criminals, and the businesses that support them need to be protected from the old drug war mentality that still runs deep within the DEA," said Neill Frankin, executive director at Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). "It's very encouraging to see such widespread support for protecting state and patient rights."
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) added, "The federal government should never interfere with patients and their medicine."
The impact could be significant in states where the DOJ and DEA continued to raid dispensaries even after the passage of the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment, which prohibited them from interfering with states that complied with local regulations on medical marijuana. In October, a federal court in California ruled that the DOJ and the DEA violated the law when they ransacked and shut down several medical marijuana providers in the state. Judge Charles Breyer of the U.S. District Court in northern California slammed the agencies for their loose interpretation of the amendment, which they claimed only blocked the DEA from challenging state laws, not prosecuting individuals or businesses.
That decision and some pending cases give drug reform campaigners hope that the agencies will adhere to the new law and give up attempts to circumvent it.
"The war on medical marijuana is over. Now the fight moves on to legalization of all marijuana."
--Bill Piper, Drug Policy Alliance
"It's always a challenge when you're depending on the Department of Justice to police itself, but at least in this case, we have the advantage that it's being litigated," DPA senior director of national affairs Bill Piper told Common Dreams on Monday. "The intent is very clear."
The passage of the measure follows a sea change in public perception of marijuana as states continue to legalize pot nationwide. Arrests for public consumption have dropped in Washington, D.C., since voters in the district approved recreational marijuana last year, Piper said. Law enforcement has realized "they're on the losing side of history. We have proved the political support is there. I think there's a norm that is being set that you shouldn't waste resources on marijuana, especially in states where it's legal."
Ironing out the wrinkles may take time, Piper added. "The DEA is probably going to be the last agency to come to their senses on this."
Nonetheless, legalization advocates were optimistic that the drug reform movement was starting to make significant progress.
Another provision passed within the omnibus lifts a freeze on using federal dollars to support needle exchange programs. The ban on such programs, which allow drug users to hand over used syringes for new, sterile ones to reduce the risk of disease, was put into place in 1988 at the height of the AIDS crisis. It was repealed in 2009, then reinstated in the 2011 omnibus after Republicans took control of the House of Representatives.
DPA said outbreaks of HIV in Indiana, along with the increase of heroin use in places like Kentucky and West Virginia, prompted Republicans to rethink their stance on the programs.
"Syringe access programs are a sound public health intervention, rooted in science, and proven to drastically reduce the spread of HIV and hepatitis C," DPA's Collins said. "Lifting this archaic ban will save thousands of lives."
LEAP called the measure "an incredible victory for public health."
Neill Frankin told Common Dreams, "Syringe exchange programs save lives. It's as simple as that. I applaud Congress for finally releasing funds to implement them and hope this is the start of a greater trend toward putting public health ahead of politics."
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This Ominous Omnibus Bill Is a Holiday Giveaway to the Wealthy
In budget compromise, we’re witnessing an orgy of predatory, omnivorous bipartisanship
Dec 17, 2015
There is an unwritten rule in Congress that before you do even a little for the working class, you must do a lot for the donor class. So while the $1.1 trillion -- yes, that's a "t" -- budget bill now winding its way to passage contains some tax breaks for low-income workers, it's a bonanza for Big Business.
Congressional leadership split the bill in two, one devoted to spending and the other to cuts. "That way," Paul Singer writes in USA Today, "Republican conservatives can vote against the spending bill, Democratic liberals can vote against the tax bill, and both bills still pass and a government shutdown is averted."
Let's start with the fossil fuel industry. For 40 years, Republicans and some Democrats have been demanding an end to the ban on crude oil exports. The omnibus bill lifts that ban, and the world community meeting in Paris agreed that emissions released from fossil fuels must be lowered if the planet is to escape incineration. Selling off cheap oil abroad is -- you should excuse the expression --like throwing gasoline on the fire.
But in Congress, the energy giants have money to burn, and that cash speaks louder than threats to the earth or its inhabitants. In the 113th Congress (2013 and 2014), the fossil fuel industry spent $326 million and change on lobbying and political campaigns. In return, they received government favors totaling $33.7 billion. Do the math: According to the advocacy group Oil Change International, for every dollar the oil, gas and coal industry spends on influencing Washington, it gets back $103 in subsidies. With this new spending bill, expect another gusher of donations to be coming in any day now.
We're witnessing an orgy of predatory, omnivorous bipartisanship.
Thanks to the Republican-controlled House and to the applause of the firearms industry, even in the wake of San Bernardino and every other mass killing this year, the bill still bans federal funding for public-health scientists to study the causes of gun violence (and continues to allow people on the no-fly list to buy guns).
These are just a couple of the goodies being sold at the Congressional big box store. We're witnessing an orgy of predatory, omnivorous bipartisanship. To show us -- all evidence to the contrary -- that they are not dysfunctional and can collaborate to keep Republican fanatics like Senator Ted Cruz from shutting down the federal government again, the two political parties have mounted a raid on the US Treasury, largely for the benefit of the moneyed interests that bankroll their campaigns.
As Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a non-partisan watchdog, told The New York Times' David Herszenhorn, "Anyone who wants to get anything done, who has already been frustrated by a virtually nonfunctioning Washington, is trying to cram whatever they can into this bill."
The "whatever," reports The Washington Post, includes some 50 expiring business and individual tax breaks that both Democrats and Republicans want to extend. As we suggested at the outset, to include tax breaks for children, college students and low-wage families, party leaders have agreed to make some expiring business tax credits permanent. This has prompted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to rub his hands in glee and predict that this will make it easier next year -- an election year when more money is collected for campaigns -- to achieve even further tax breaks for business.
It's a bipartisan borrowing spree, says Maya MacGuineas, and it will add about a trillion dollars to the nation's debt, as Democrats insist on spending more and Republicans refuse to raise taxes to pay the bills and cover the cost.
Meanwhile, behind the closed doors of those back rooms of Congress, the wheeling-dealing grew more frenzied as the clock ticked down. Wall Street wolves prowled the Hill seeking obliging politicians who would insert into the spending bill a rollback of reforms enacted after the financial crash of 2008. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was born of that crisis to do what its name implies, remains a constant target. Stealth mercenaries wanted to kill or cripple it, and promised tote bags of cash if it's done by the next election.
By such are we governed today: soulless puppets dangling from the rich man's string, their wooden hands outstretched, palms upturned. As we speak, they are writing new rules in secret to perpetuate the rule of the few.
There's more. Had the food industry gotten its way, the spending bill would have gutted state laws requiring that genetically modified food be labeled. They were held at bay, but a second health safeguard was removed. Back in 2008, Congress passed a farm bill requiring food sellers to tag meat with the name of the country of origin. That requirement has just been scuttled. The website Talking Points Memo quotes a US Cattlemen's Association lobbyist, which supports identifying the meat as a public safety measure: "...We could have Chinese chicken within the year on shelves and no one will know where it came from." Perhaps some lonely but brave soul in Congress can insert a last-minute rider requiring that when the initial shipment of chickens arrives, they first be served to customers in the Senate and House dining rooms.
Beginning, we would suggest, with good old Senator Mitch McConnell of whom we were just speaking. The worst of all the sneak attacks on democracy unfolding right now on Capitol Hill has his itchy trigger fingerprints all over the bombsight. McConnell, who ever since he arrived has been auctioning Congress off piece-by-piece to the highest bidders, has seen to it that the spending bill includes two provisions to emasculate efforts by the Internal Revenue Service and the Securities and Exchange Commission to require public disclosure of large political donations by individuals and corporations.
In other words, as the Los Angeles Times' Michael Hiltzik suggests, McConnell agrees not to shut down the government only if the millionaires and billionaires are permitted to continue buying the government in ever greater secrecy.
By such are we governed today: soulless puppets dangling from the rich man's string, their wooden hands outstretched, palms upturned. As we speak, they are writing new rules secretly to perpetuate the rule of the few.
How long do we suffer them?
How long?
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