The four stupidest ideas for ending the shutdown (LA Times)

[pinto]

http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-stupidest-ideas-20131013,0,1017634.story

The four stupidest ideas for ending the shutdown

By Michael Hiltzik
October 14, 2013

There are so many to choose from, but these four take the cake. In no particular order:

1. The Vitter amendment. Concocted by David Vitter (R-La.), this majestically cynical measure is based on the common misconception that members of Congress and their staffs are "exempted" from the Affordable Care Act. It would prohibit the government from paying for any part of the health insurance for federal legislators or their staff.

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2. The Lankford bill. The "Government Shutdown Prevention Act" introduced by Rep. James Lankford (R-Okla.) in March, this bill would keep the government open at existing spending levels if Congress failed to pass a budget by the end of the fiscal year. But it would impose a 1% spending cut after 120 days without a budget, and additional 1% cuts every 90 days thereafter.

It's a classic poison pill, and it's the U.S. economy that would get poisoned. It obviously does nothing to incentivize an intransigent minority in Congress to come to grips with economic or political reality, and isn't that exactly where we are now?

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3. Ryan's unconscionable "conscience" clause. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who has a mysterious reputation for economic smarts in Washington, has reportedly now floated the idea of conditioning an end to the fiscal stalemate by inserting a "conscience" clause into the Affordable Care Act. That's a provision that would allow employers and insurers to refuse to provide birth control coverage to their workers or policyholders on religious or moral grounds. This is nothing but a sop to the religious far right, some of the same people who got us into the standoff to begin with. It's a battle from the 19th century, and one would think we moved past that.

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4. The return of starving the seniors. Another idea from the Ryan shop. This proposal would require cuts to Social Security and Medicare as a condition for raising the debt ceiling. Ryan has been shopping this idea for more than two years now, and it's been thoroughly repudiated -- most recently by the voters in the 2012 election, when Ryan and his running mate, Mitt Romney, were solidly thumped. There's something fundamentally immoral about trying to balance the federal budget on the backs of the neediest and most elderly members of society.

<full piece at>
http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-stupidest-ideas-20131013,0,1017634.story

[progressoid]

1. Sweet Baby Jesus

Also, why is Vitter still in office?

[pinto]

2. The full piece is a great repudiation of these proposals. We need more of this.

[Scuba]

3. "... Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who has a mysterious reputation for economic smarts ..."

Undeserved, yes. The guy doesn't know a spreadsheet row from a column.

Mysterious, no. His rep as a "numbers wonk" has been carefully cultivated and fertilized.

[bemildred]

4. I like #2 particularly.

"The beatings will continue until morale improves".