{"id":282325,"date":"2011-02-25T20:19:00","date_gmt":"2011-02-25T20:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/02\/25\/washingtons-budget-follies\/"},"modified":"2011-02-25T20:19:00","modified_gmt":"2011-02-25T20:19:00","slug":"washingtons-budget-follies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/25\/washingtons-budget-follies\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington’s budget follies"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nBy Jeanne Sahadi, senior writer<\/span>February 25, 2011: 12:03 PM ET<\/span>
<\/p>\n

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Is this any way to run a government? <\/p>\n

Congress may soon pass a fifth short-term funding bill in as many months just to keep Washington operating for another two to four weeks. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

On top of that, government agencies may also be asked to cut up to $4 billion in as-yet-unnamed programs during that period. <\/p>\n

Of course, lawmakers on the left and the right may come to agreement on a so-called “long-term” spending bill that would cover the rest of fiscal year 2011, which ends Sept. 30.<\/p>\n

Or just as likely they could instead hit complete gridlock, pass nothing and shut the whole government down. Turn out the lights. Lock the doors. Hang up the “Gone fishin” sign. <\/p>\n

Those are the basic options in the next week because on March 4, the current short-term spending plan expires<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Passing a very short-term continuing resolution is intended to buy more time for House Republicans and Senate Democrats to work out a deal on funding levels for the rest of the year. While that may be preferable to a government shut down in some respects, it’s not exactly an ouchless <\/b>Band-Aid. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

“It’s just a nightmare. You don’t know your full-year budget so you don’t know how to allocate your funding,” said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former director of the Congressional Budget Office and leading Republican economist. “Regardless of party, it’s just bad governance. A pox on both their houses.”<\/p>\n

Of course, continuing resolutions are nothing new<\/a>. Congress has enacted at least one every year for all but three of the past 30 years. And the general verdict from government agencies is that continuing resolutions can make it unnecessarily difficult to get their jobs done.<\/p>\n

Studying the effects at six agencies, the Government Accountability Office found in 2009 that short-term spending resolutions create pointless inefficiencies — for instance, delays in hiring and the need for repetitive work such as issuing multiple grants and contracts.<\/p>\n

As in years past, agency directors “will be putting their fingers in the wind” to figure things out, Holtz-Eakin said.<\/p>\n

The uncertainty and hassle could be compounded by having to make new short-term cuts.<\/p>\n

House Republicans on Friday will propose a two-week continuing resolution that would cut spending by about $4 billion. It’s unlikely that will fly with Senate Democrats, who originally wanted to maintain funding at current levels for at least a month. But this week they said they, too, would be proposing cuts of their own<\/a> for a seven-month period.<\/p>\n

Just where either party’s cuts would come from isn’t clear yet. Both have said they would draw from the list of cuts proposed in President Obama’s 2012 budget and both have said they would target earmarks.<\/p>\n

But it’s not a stretch to assume that the House GOP might also include some of the same programs and agencies targeted in a bill that the House passed last weekend. That bill would reduce federal spending by $61 billion<\/a> over seven months.<\/p>\n

It’s also not clear how fast cuts under a short-term continuing resolution would be made. If, say, the House GOP’s $4 billion is pro-rated — meaning that the $4 billion is treated on an annualized basis resulting in cuts of $77 million a week for 52 weeks — that would require “very minor changes” for the agencies, Holtz-Eakin said.<\/p>\n

If, however, agencies have to cut a full $4 billion in just two weeks, that could greatly increase the hardship factor.<\/p>\n

Like Holtz-Eakin, Rudolph Penner, another former CBO director, has nothing nice to say about this year’s fits-and-starts funding<\/a> practices.<\/p>\n

“The whole process has become quite absurd,” Penner said. “We wouldn’t be talking about it if the Congress had passed appropriations before the start of the fiscal year like they are supposed to.”\u00a0\"To<\/a><\/p>\n


\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Go here to see the original:
\nWashington’s budget follies<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jeanne Sahadi, senior writer February 25, 2011: 12:03 PM ET NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Is this any way to run a government? Congress may soon pass a fifth short-term funding bill in as many months just to keep Washington operating for another two to four weeks. On top of that, government agencies may also be asked to cut up to $4 billion in as-yet-unnamed programs during that period<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-282325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nWashington's budget follies - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/25\/washingtons-budget-follies\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Washington's budget follies - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"By Jeanne Sahadi, senior writer February 25, 2011: 12:03 PM ET NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Is this any way to run a government? Congress may soon pass a fifth short-term funding bill in as many months just to keep Washington operating for another two to four weeks. On top of that, government agencies may also be asked to cut up to $4 billion in as-yet-unnamed programs during that period\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/0e63013ebug.gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/25\/washingtons-budget-follies\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/25\/washingtons-budget-follies\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Washington’s budget follies\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-02-25T20:19:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/25\/washingtons-budget-follies\/\"},\"wordCount\":647,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/25\/washingtons-budget-follies\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/0e63013ebug.gif\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/25\/washingtons-budget-follies\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/25\/washingtons-budget-follies\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/25\/washingtons-budget-follies\/\",\"name\":\"Washington's budget follies - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/25\/washingtons-budget-follies\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/25\/washingtons-budget-follies\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/0e63013ebug.gif\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-02-25T20:19:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/25\/washingtons-budget-follies\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/25\/washingtons-budget-follies\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/0e63013ebug.gif\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/0e63013ebug.gif\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Washington's budget follies - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/25\/washingtons-budget-follies\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Washington's budget follies - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"By Jeanne Sahadi, senior writer February 25, 2011: 12:03 PM ET NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Is this any way to run a government? Congress may soon pass a fifth short-term funding bill in as many months just to keep Washington operating for another two to four weeks. On top of that, government agencies may also be asked to cut up to $4 billion in as-yet-unnamed programs during that period","twitter_image":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/0e63013ebug.gif","twitter_creator":"@ghanamma","twitter_site":"@ghanamma","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/25\/washingtons-budget-follies\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/25\/washingtons-budget-follies\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Washington’s budget follies","datePublished":"2011-02-25T20:19:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/25\/washingtons-budget-follies\/"},"wordCount":647,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/25\/washingtons-budget-follies\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/0e63013ebug.gif","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/25\/washingtons-budget-follies\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/25\/washingtons-budget-follies\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/25\/washingtons-budget-follies\/","name":"Washington's budget follies - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/25\/washingtons-budget-follies\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/25\/washingtons-budget-follies\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/0e63013ebug.gif","datePublished":"2011-02-25T20:19:00+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/25\/washingtons-budget-follies\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/25\/washingtons-budget-follies\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/0e63013ebug.gif","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/0e63013ebug.gif"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282325\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}