Not sure if you all heard that we were once again within a week of the government running out of money for operations. Yep. The current fiscal year (FY11) ends on the 30th and Congress does not have a plan for how to spend the budgeted funds for FY12. No plan. None at all. Instead of making a real plan, they passed a 6 week continuing resolution so that there’s enough money to keep everything going until just before Thanksgiving, at which point they’ll…do something. I don’t know what. Maybe another continuing resolution to fund the government until the end of the calendar year. That seems likely. This Congress is adept at moving the goal posts.
There’s a bit of an orgy of self-congratulation going on, especially among Democrats, because the CR has some cuts but preserves some funding for key areas and blah blah blah. What no one is mentioning is that CONGRESS FAILED TO PASS EVEN A SINGLE APPROPRIATIONS BILL FOR FY2012. Not. One. Not a single damn bill. They have had MONTHS to do this. The House managed to hold votes on a few but not all of them. The Senate finished writing them but never voted on them. The two chambers haven’t conferenced their separate versions to come up with compromise bills and nothing has passed. No appropriations bills have been signed into law.
Why? Because Congress sucks.
They suck at caring about America. They suck an ensuring the republic functions smoothly. They suck an promoting the welfare of the citizens. They suck at anything except campaigning to keep the jobs that they suck so bad at doing.
We should all be furious because this is the second fucking year that Congress has let partisan crap get in the way of taking care of their responsibilities to the American people. They name plenty of post offices but they can’t get their shit together enough to make a year long spending plan using the regular process that’s been in place pretty much as long as there’s been a US Congress. These 535 jokers have defaulted on their responsibilities. And the only reason is politics. It’s all about appearances. Do they look like they’re cutting wasteful spending, do they look like their coddling the right interest groups, do they look compassionate, do they look fiscally responisible.
They. Are. Fiscally. Irresponsible. By virtue of failing to pass any appropriations bills, for the second year in a row, they have demonstrated a flagrant disregard for fiscal responsibility.
Every single one of us should put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboards) and tell our elected officials that we think they are failures of the highest order and that we expect them to do their damn jobs when it comes to financial planning for the nation. They should hear it from every one of their constituents. They should know that we care and that we know that they’ve failed us.
If the budget and appropriations process bewilders you, don’t worry. I once broke it down so non-DC dorks could understand it. It’s really not that fancy or special, despite what most Members of Congress and lobbyists would have you believe. You could effectively do it yourself. In fact, I wish you would. Wanna run for Congress and give it a try?
In some regard, I absolutely agree. It is very hard, as a Federal employee, for us to accomplish our mission absent a full fiscal year solution. Last year, you will remember, we got the FY CR in the spring, which left us essentially a half year to execute. No wonder we can’t get shit done. (Pardon my French there.) In my dream world, the budget would pass every year on time. Absent that, we would have a CR for the entire FY. This are we shutting down or aren’t we– six weeks here, two weeks there– crap has to end.
(And by budget pass, I mean that the approps would match the budget and bill pass. Well, you know exactly what I mean. 😉 )
Yep if we held an election right now, all of Capital Hill will be unemployed.
It makes me so damn mad that I can barely tolerate news anymore. I keep watching though so I know just who to campaign against. 😛 No one so far makes me want to give them the job.
You know what I like about your blog? You state something like, “Congress sucks” and I think, “Yeah, obviously.” But then you explain how and why Congress sucks in terms I can understand. So, thanks for that.
Also, did you hear that my state’s illustrious governor (Beverly Perdue, North Carolina) suggested that we need to suspend the upcoming elections to keep our Members of Congress from being distracted by campaigning so that they can really truly pass a budget? Yeah, because what this country needs is two more years of grandstanding, brinkmanship, and Congressional failure to complete even the most basic of their duties. (She later claimed she was joking. Uh huh.)
I’m so disgusted by our elected officials I can hardly think straight.
I just realized that first para could read quite sarcastically. When I said “thanks for that” I really did want to thank you. I love the insights I get from your blog.
Once again you lay it out as it is. Even I can understand 🙂 This is so ridiculous I feel like the country must be getting punk’d. How else could these folks fail so miserably at their jobs? It’s shameful.
Yea I’m not so impressed by the numbskulls on the hill. It’s shameful and awful. And, quite frankly, I will be so PISSED if the government shuts down the first week in November when I’m scheduled to be down there on vacation, DAMNIT.
On a more serious note, it’s just awful that everyone can’t stop bickering like children and figure stuff out. For crying out loud, my one year old and my 4 year old are more mature and better at solving problems…
Petition to fire congress
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/fire-congress/