Trying to get Republicans to commit to what programs they intend to cut to achieve their promise to cut the deficit, at the same time that they are trying to lard it with $700 billion with tax cuts for the rich, has been harder than finding an honest Bankster. But most agree that they want to cut the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Emergency Contingency Fund. That fits the Republican mantra. Every penny spent helping needy families is a penny Republicans can’t spend on welfare for millionaires. But the fools are going to have a very hard time cutting that program.
ThinkProgress has been documenting the struggles that House Republicans have been having as they attempt to claim the mantle of fiscal responsibility without laying out any real spending cuts to which anyone might object. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) epitomized this dance, saying on PBS’ Newshour that he had a path to budget balance, and then outlined cuts that amounted to less than one half of one percent of the budget.
One program which House Republicans have consistently seized upon to bolster their budget-cutting bona fides is the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Emergency Contingency Fund, a successful program that has created 250,000 jobs in 37 states via subsidized employment programs for low-income and unemployed workers. And according to National Journal, Republicans are once again railing against the program [propaganda delinked], selecting it as one of their first programs to cut:
House Republicans have targeted one of the first programs they would like to ax: the $25 billion emergency fund for people who lose their jobs, part of last year’s stimulus bill. Rep. Tom Price of Georgia, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, said the program encourages states to increase their welfare caseloads “without requiring able-bodied individuals to work, get job training, or make other efforts to move off of taxpayer assistance.”
As the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities pointed out, Price’s characterization of the fund is completely inaccurate. The program has also earned the staunch support of many Republican governors, including Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS), who said it provided “much-needed aid during this recession by enabling businesses to hire new workers, thus enhancing the economic engines of our local communities.”
But the crux of the issue is that eliminating the TANF emergency fund will not save any money because the program has already expired… [emphasis original][emphasis added]
Inserted from <Think Progress>
Is this a pattern? Iraq’s WMD program didn’t exist either.
8 Responses to “Republicans Prove Stupidity Again!”
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There is not enough to cut in every program either fully funded or subsidized by the federal government including Social Security and Medicare to make much of a dent in a 14 trillion dollar hole. Cut every program, fire every worker, and end government in it’s entirety except for the IRS and you would still need 6 years to pay off everything owed right now.
The only rig,,,excuse me, correct thing to do is let the tax cuts for all expire and start paying more now until the deficit falls into a mid single digit range. At the same time I suggest come the spring people start walking, not in your local area but toward DC. Not with any agenda other than to have them feed us because by spring the expected population of hungry is projected to tick up even higher. Walk to DC or The Hamptons or wherever the hell the top 2% live. Let their well subsidized communities feed a mass of a 20% of the population (99ers Dec 1 true unemployment figure closer to 20% than 10) out of work sick and dying people.
Mark, I thing that letting the tax cuts expire for the poor and middle classes would be a mistake. They spend their money and the economy needs that spending. The only way to balance the budget, long term, again is to stimulate the economy to increase tax revenues, end incentives for exporting jobs, and end corporate welfare.
This Republican plan to return to Reagan-Bush 2 economics should be identified by its true identity: a Weapon of Mass Economic Destruction (WMED).
WMED, huh? That’s also W’s health care plan. 😈
I read a blurb on Huff Po yesterday when another rep tried to cut a program that had already expired – something again to do with welfare. It was eliminated under the Clinton admin. These people should be gerbils running around on a wheel for all the good they’re gonna do. How about we start with the massive military budget – I’m sure there’s some shit in there you guys could find. Nah, that would be pointless. Dumasses. 😡
Giving Republican legislators wheels unfairly takes resources from Gerbils and gibes them to less advanced animals.
This is my latest post too. The Republicans cutting the budget by eliminating a program that’s already expired, LOL. For their next magical trick, the GOP is organizing a massive boycott: Republicans are vowing to never ever purchase another Edsel, Nash Rambler, Corvair or Ford Pinto.
LOL Tom! If they took over Detroit those are all that they would make.