Copy of AFF Sentinel V22 #13-Reconciliation Progress
- Steve Dittmer
- Jul 22
- 3 min read
House and Senate Pass Budget Bills Out of Committee
Steve Dittmer | AFF Sentinel
Colorado Springs, CO
Originally sent to subscribers 02/14/25
The House, where spending bills are supposed to originate, passed their outline of a budget reconciliation bill Thursday.
The general framework:
-$1.5 trillion floor on spending cuts, with $2 trillion the target
-$4.5 trillion ceiling on deficit impact from extending 2017 and other tax cuts
-$300 billion for border work
-an increase in the debt limit by $4 trillion
The House Budget Committee also voted down as couple dozen Democrat-proposed amendments to the bill.
A key was a provision that allows Budget Committee Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX) to increase the cap on the deficit figure if the Republicans can find more spending cuts.
There are some contentions as to how things are to be benchmarked and measured. As with other government entities, the CBO has about the same dismal track record as the Federal Reserve. Some lawmakers want to hew to the CBO’s estimate of how tax cuts would affect the deficit. The CBO counts tax cuts as “costs.” Economist Steve Moore pointed out that the CBO scored the 2017 tax cuts as “costing” the federal government $2 trillion when actually the cuts generated $2 trillion in added revenue. This time, they are scoring the contemplated tax cuts as adding $4 trillion to the deficit.
Larry Kudlow and John Carney have been taking the same position as Senate Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo of Idaho has staked out. The House Budget Committee has the legislative authority to determine their own baseline and to regard current tax policy as neutral. It is not the CBO’s job to set the baseline.
Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md) praised the House bill as a fast solution to getting border funding quickly, providing spending and deficit reduction and advancing Trump’s tax policy. The bill now has to pass on the House floor, with only a one-vote margin as the Republican tally stands now.
There is also language in the bill that provides Congress more authority over federal rulemaking.
The Senate Finance Committee passed its budget resolution out of committee Wednesday. The first bill concentrates on immigration and military spending. The tax bill would come later in the year.
The two or three bills will have to be consolidated into something that both houses can pass. As one member reminded, the goal is 218 in the House and 51 in the Senate.
Remember these are outlines. Once a reconciliation bill clears both Houses, then the committees have to figure out how to fit President Trump’s priorities into those outlines.
As the one- or two-track approach has yet to be resolved, we’ll advance our own thoughts. The economy, the consumers and the markets need boosting ASAP. Members of Congress could quibble and hem and haw on a tax bill until Christmas. There will be lobbyists and interests all over Congress. The best whip to hold over their heads will be the ire of voters if the money to deport illegals and criminals runs out or gas prices go up this spring and no one is drilling new wells and prices are still high and members are still palavering over tax provisions.
By then, Mr. Trump will be breathing fire at them, too
Time and again they have procrastinated until the eleventh hour like recalcitrant college students. They need to bow to the pressure now and get it done.
In Trump's first term, Congress dillydallied on their tax cuts bill until the end of 2017, delaying the boost to the economy until 2019. That cost the Republicans seats in 2018. They should not repeat the error.
Speaking of food fights, you might have missed Tomi Lahren on Fox Friday in a discussion over food policy, once more slipping into her Bill Bullard trance again and claiming that our food supply would be improved if Congress brought back COOL.
Our address: Agribusiness Freedom Foundation, P.O. Box 88179, Colorado Springs, CO. 80908.
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