GOP TEA PARTY WILL FILIBUSTER NATIONAL DEBT CEILING

Raising the ceiling debt will not curb the governments thrist for spending. CUT SPENDING! Debunking a popular myth, not raising the debt ceiling will stop any further spending by the government. The obligation to the interest on our debt will still be paid by the revenues collected by taxes. In fact, the high gas prices is a nice source of tax revenues to the teasury. We need to get serious with our spending before it is too late. By putting it off, we will continue to have the same discussion.

(Politico) The Senate’s Tea Party Caucus will face a tough decision when it comes time to vote to raise the national debt limit: Fall in line behind Republican leadership or go rogue.

The founding members of the new caucus – freshman Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and second-term Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) – are each considering whether to mount a filibuster to block an increase of the $14.3 trillion national debt ceiling.

But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and his leadership team are quietly voicing concerns about a filibuster, saying their preferred strategy is to force Democrats to find 51 votes among themselves, so they can be solely responsible for raising the national borrowing limit. Since 60 votes would be needed to overcome a filibuster, at least seven Republicans would have to ultimately back a debt limit hike if the party didn’t want to take the blame for forcing a default on the nation’s creditors – which would badly muddy the political message.

The vote, which carries both tangible and political consequences, will be a test of how far the fiercely conservative tea party senators are willing to take their purist ideology.

Dammit, No Government Shutdown

Congress finally got a budget for this fiscal year that will end September 30, 2011. It is over for now. The budget bill is not exactly great, but it did trim some of the spending. The problem with every budget is making the Department of Defense the pariah or the "bogeyman." Instead of cutting entitlement programs, Congress has no problem trimming the lean fat from the Pentagon. However, Congress did trim some of the foreign aid to other countries. The move is commonsense. In order to help others, one needs to take care of their own house first. At least, America doesn't need to worry about another balance budget till September.

(Politico) After a long day of trading offers, the White House and House Republicans reached agreement Friday night on a budget framework that would cap 2011 appropriations near or below $1.050 trillion while cutting domestic and foreign aid by more than $40 billion from the rate of spending at the beginning of this Congress.

Behind the closed doors of special meeting of the Republican Conference, Speaker John Boehner presented the package to his party as at least an agreement in principle and said at one point “We have a deal.” He has yet to speak publicly but all signs indicate that the Senate will now feel confident enough to move ahead with a stop gap spending bill to avert—or at least shorten—any shutdown beginning at midnight

Boehner made a final bid at getting a still lower top line directly to President Barack Obama, when Obama called him in the early evening. A second key variable is Pentagon spending, where Democrats had moved up to $514 billion –a $5.3 billion increase— but were also asking for an across-the-board government-wide percentage cut that would not exempt defense.