Ezra Klein: The GOP’s latest poison pill

[Triana]

The National Review's Robert Costa reports that House Republicans are preparing a six-week debt-ceiling extension that includes the Vitter amendment (see here for more on that bit of health-care trolling), strengthened income verification under Obamacare, and Rep. James Lankford's 'Government Shutdown Prevention Act.'

Lankford's bill is interesting. Here's the description from his congressional office:

If Congress fails to approve a budget by the end of each fiscal year, the Government Shutdown Prevention Act would ensure that all operations remain running normally without any interruption of services by automatically triggering a continuing resolution (CR) or short-term, stop-gap spending device.

The bill creates an automatic CR for any regular appropriations bill not completed before the end of the fiscal year. After the first 120 days, auto-CR funding would be reduced by one percentage point and would continue to be reduced by that margin every 90 days.

By progressively decreasing the amounts provided under the automatic continuing resolution, the bill provides continued incentives for Congress and the President to reach agreement on regular appropriations bills.

Catch the problem?

THE REST:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/10/13/the-gops-latest-poison-pill/

[Squinch]

1. Better idea: for every day that the government's bills are not paid, the representatives of the

party holding up the funding is docked a week's pay.

[Triana]

2. +1 n/t

[2naSalit]

7. Make it a month so it really impacts them.

[Squinch]

8. Problem is, so many of those guys are taking money from all sides, their salary isn't

a drop in the bucket to them. As they tell people working 60 hour weeks for minimum wage that they need to stop being takers.

[2naSalit]

9. True!

If they aren't millionaires while in office, they certainly are when they come out no matter how crappy a job they did while in office.

I think they should have a large portion of their salary withheld until the end of each year and then some formula based on what they did to help we the people is used to assess what their pay ends up being based on that calculation. If they were total f#*kups, they get nothing, including no pension or healthcare for life. If they can't produce beneficial results for the 99%, they get nothing, and if they end up costing us, they have to pay it back relative to what they cost us. That might fix some of this crap.

[Squinch]

10. Wouldn't that be nice. Wonder how they would fare after costing us the billions this

shut down has cost.

[2naSalit]

12. Perhaps

a taste of that bitter poison they inflicted on those they were sent to DC to help. Karma based compensation package. Can you imagine those fat cats suddenly having to worry about where their next meal was coming from and the next house payment and car payment and maybe even have to apply for SNAP benefits that now take up to six+ weeks to receive after spending two to three weeks jumping through hoops to get approved for?

I'd love to see that.

[arely staircase]

3. more extortion

from the lemmings with suicide vests.

[JCMach1]

4. DOA

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. oy

[rdharma]

6. Up is down..... peace is war.....etc.

"By progressively decreasing the amounts provided under the automatic continuing resolution, the bill provides continued incentives for Congress and the President to reach agreement on regular appropriations bills."

This Lankford bill would have just the opposite effect.

Stick that bill where the sun don't shine, Mr. Lankford!

[bhikkhu]

11. Ending congressional pay when they fail to pass a budget would balance things

If they want to use failure to pass a budget as an easy means to de-fund programs, cutting 1% progressively every 90 days, I don't see how that encourages good government. If they had to go without pay during the same period, that would encourage them to do their job.