BA Spending Daily September 11, 2012

Germany Says U.S. Debt “Much Too High,” Global Economy Burdened 
Reuters reports, “German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble questioned on Tuesday how the United States could deal with its high levels of government debt after November’s presidential election. In a speech to the Bundestag lower house of parliament to open a debate on the 2013 German budget, Schaeuble said worries about U.S. debt were a burden for the global economy, hitting back at Washington which has criticized Europe for failing to get a grip on its own debt crisis. … ‘Ahead of the election in the United States there is great uncertainty about the course American politics will take in dealing the U.S. government’s debts, which are much too high,’ Schaeuble said. ‘We need to remind ourselves of that sometimes and the global economy knows that and is burdened by it.’”

Deficit Totals $1.17T, Fourth Straight Year Exceeding $1T 
According to The Hill, “The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported Monday that the 2012 budget deficit through August stands at $1.17 trillion. It estimated that $192 billion was added to the deficit in August, crossing the symbolically important trillion-dollar threshold. This is the fourth straight year that the deficit will exceed one trillion dollars, all under President Obama. The deficit in 2008 was $459 billion. Eleven months into the fiscal year ending on Oct. 1, the deficit is about $70 billion less than at this point in fiscal 2011. Revenue increases account for the difference, with incoming revenue increasing 6 percent and spending increasing 2 percent despite the efforts of Congress to reduce it.  So far this year, revenues have increased $126 billion, the CBO estimated, while spending has increased by $57 billion.”

Short-Term Budget Fix “punts on the core duty of Congress”
Politico reports, “A six-month stop-gap spending bill took final shape in Congress Monday, as House and Senate negotiators agreed to a formula that will raise most appropriations accounts by about 0.6 percent to meet the $1.047 trillion spending target set for the new fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. The House Rules Committee posted the 29-page continuing resolution, or CR, on its website in the evening with the expectation that the measure could come to a House floor vote as early as Thursday. The goal is to avert any threat of a government shutdown while allowing lawmakers to quickly get back to campaigning at home. But the agencies left behind will pay a price given the rigidity of the funding.” … House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) commented, “‘This bill essentially punts on the core duty of Congress to complete its annual Appropriations and budget work. … Our founding fathers and our Constitution have spelled out a more responsible way to allocate the people’s money — through individual, annual Appropriations bills. It is imperative to our nation’s future and to our finances that we return to a timely regular order of business on such important funding legislation.’”

A Failing Economy with a “divided Washington”
The Associated Press reports, “The economy is weak and the job market brutal. Nearly 13 million Americans can’t find work; the national unemployment rate is 8.1 percent, the highest level ever three years after a recession supposedly ended. A divided Washington has done little to ease the misery. … Growth has never been slower in the three years after a downturn. The human toll is immense. Forty percent of the jobless- 5 million people – have been out of work for six months or more, their skills eroding and their chances of finding good jobs fading. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has declared long-term unemployment a ‘national crisis.’ Millions of Americans have simply given up looking for work. … Republicans and Democrats will have to find some common ground before the year ends to prevent the economy from falling off a ‘fiscal cliff.’ If they don’t reach a budget deal, more than $600 billion in spending cuts and tax increases will start to kick in next year. The threat of the fiscal shock is meant to force Republicans and Democrats to compromise. Otherwise, the combination of spending cuts and tax increases probably would send the economy back into recession and drive unemployment back to 9 percent next year, the CBO estimates.”

“Pentagon says it’s not to blame for delayed sequestration report”
The Hill reports, “The Pentagon on Monday sought to distance itself from the growing rancor between the White House and congressional Republicans over the delay of a much anticipated administration report on sequestration due on Capitol Hill this month. Defense Department (DOD) officials have sent all information regarding the potential impact of the $500 billion in automatic defense cuts under the sequestration plan, Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters Monday. … The report is part of the Sequestration Transparency Act signed by Congress in August. The legislation directs the administration to explain how it will implement the $109 billion in automatic cuts — half of which will come from DOD coffers — mandated by the Budget Control Act. But that highly sought report won’t arrive on Capitol Hill until next week — a week later than the congressionally mandated deadline — White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters on Friday.”

“Fiscal cliff: All talk, no deal-making”
Politico reports, “President Barack Obama wants to fix the debt problem and stop the nation from falling off a fiscal cliff. So does Mitt Romney. And John Boehner. And Paul Ryan. And Joe Biden, too. They all said as much at the Republican and Democratic national conventions and accused their opponents of lacking the guts to pick a plan and make it stick. So it would make sense that while they were talking, their aides and allies were meeting behind the scenes to steer away from that fast-approaching cliff, right? Wrong. The truth is that none of the top leaders or their aides are in serious negotiations. This leaves the key players simply pointing fingers and praying that voters clarify Washington’s power structure in November in a way that favors Republican entitlement cuts or Democratic tax hikes. The winners at the ballot box will get to set the terms, the thinking goes. Until then, don’t give an inch.”

House Bill Would Put $500k Cap on Government Conferences
The Hill reports, “The House will approve legislation this week that would put significant new restrictions on the ability of Executive Branch agencies to hold conferences, a reaction to several lavish conferences that Republicans have targeted as wasteful spending at a time of fiscal crisis. The Government Spending Accountability Act, H.R. 4631, was introduced by Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.), and would put a $500,000 cap on government conferences. However, this cap can be exceeded if the head of an agency determines that the expenditure is ‘justified as the most cost-effective option to achieve a compelling purpose,’ and submits that to Congress.”

Evaluations, Benefits Package At The Heart of Chicago Teachers Strike
ABC News reports, “As more than 29,000 Chicago teachers walked on picket lines today, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said it was ‘wrong… for our children’ and urged negotiators to ‘stay at the table.’ The strike is the first teachers strike for the city in 25 years. … Negotiations between the two sides were reportedly stuck on two issues: teacher evaluations that focus heavily on standardized test scores and a benefits package for union members. The teachers union argued that the evaluation system emphasized students’ standardized test scores too heavily and unfairly penalized instructors. … In a city where shootings have been the story of the summer, keeping nearly 400,000 students safe during the strike immediately has become a top concern.”

Major Budget Deal Could Be AYear Away
Bloomberg reports, “Former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker said the White House and Congress are likely to agree to delay across-the-board spending cuts and tax increases set for January, putting off a major budget accord by as much as a year. Congressional committees haven’t ‘done their work’ on realistic plans to overhaul taxes and entitlement programs such as Medicare, and President Barack Obama’s administration has done little to prepare the public for spending cuts and tax increases, Walker said at a luncheon today in New York sponsored by the Economic Club of New York and Bloomberg News. There is no sign of an agreement to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. The Congressional Budget Office has said the economy will probably tip into recession if Congress doesn’t resolve the impasse by early next year. Walker said he’s skeptical there will be movement toward a resolution at the end of this year when Congress meets after the election.”

Amtrak Cost Taxpayers $650 million in 2011
The Associated Press reports that subsidies for Amtrak could become an issue in the presidential race with Republican lawmakers pushing for privatization.  AP explains, “Even with a record 30 million passengers boarding its trains last year, Amtrak operated at a net loss of more than $450 million. The government pitched in $562 million to keep Amtrak in the black. And that’s just on the operations side, where Amtrak says it covers about 85 percent of its own costs through ticket fares and fees. When it comes to capital costs, like keeping train tracks up, the government foots almost the entire bill, costing taxpayers about $650 million in 2011.”