Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Obama’s budget seeks unity among Democrats
The Article details Obama's attempts to pass new a new budget. The new plan increases funding for internal improvements, education and job training. The Article mentions that Obama will focus more on strengthening Democratic loyalty then on getting Republican support. Although I agree with the proposals of the bill, I thing that passing the bill would be a dream at this point. Between the passage of the healthcare bill and the bipartisan budget, our politicians are all out of compromises as indicated by the Senate Democrats refusing to pass the bill.
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I really don't see this bill becoming a law. This article, which seemed pretty unbiased, was pretty pessimistic that it would be passed considering that here has already been a two-year budget plan passed through congress this year. Although this bill probably won't pass, I do think that there is a great importance in our government continuing to propose new budgets. Something needs to be done. Either spending needs to be cut, or taxes need to be raised, because at this point there is a huge debt accumulating (a 17 trillion dollar debt), and it is going to be a huge problem for our generation.
ReplyDeleteWhy would Obama propose this just three months after congress and the White House agreed on parameters for this year's budget? Why would they think it would have any chance of passing? I guess I'm pleased that the White House is finally acknowledging our failing infrastructure, but under these circumstances it has no chance of working. It's like he's trying to make it look like he's trying when he knows inside that there is no shot of it passing.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that I noted was the President’s decision to increase spending on education. Personally, I see little reason to do this for two reasons. First, education ought to be a state issue rather than a federal issue. The federal government’s intrusion into education is unfortunate because of the fact that they are trespassing on a sphere of power that rightfully belongs to the states. Secondly, it seems unreasonable to increase funding for education when some schools plan on wasting that money on excessively expensive technology (such as iPads) when that money could be used far more efficiently and productively (especially given many people’s tendencies to play games during lectures).
ReplyDeleteEducation was up to the states until they lost that right by refusing to create equal schools. This still applies because the due process clause in the Constitution guarantees equal opportunity to quality education, including but not limited to segregation, so when states do not provide this the Federal Government has a constitutional obligation to intervene. Though some schools are able to waste money, thousand of other schools (such as Chester) desperately need assistance to give basic necessities like textbooks to their students.
DeleteExcellent answer, Anna! True. Tragic situation that still exists.
DeleteAlthough it seems unlikely that this bill will be passed, it's significant and a great sign that more proposals of bills are being made. I personally agree with the proposals of the bill, so it's disappointing it has little chance of being passed. I like how Obama is focusing on strengthening Democratic loyalty, for although it won't help to get this bill passed, it forecasts a better future for bills to come and hopefully more laws to pass.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately with the current state of mind in our government I do not see this bill being passed. I think it proposes a lot of good ideas and attempts to fund programs that really need the money. However, with the budget bills that have been passed recently, I don't see it having much success in passing at this time. I think it is a very good thing that Obama is trying to unify democratic loyalties so that future bills will have a better chance of passing through Congress.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I completely agree that our countries crumbling infrastructure and dismal education system all need increased funding, there's no way this is going to be passed. I agree with what Evan was saying, why is Obama proposing this now? Trying to get compromise on economic proposals such as these is what shutdown the government down just a few months ago. Combined with the fact the election year is coming up soon, there's no possibility of this budget proposal being passed.
ReplyDeleteLike my classmates, I would have to agree that now is definitely not a good time to propose a new budget. And even though an increase in spending for road work and mass transit would be extremely helpful right now, because of all of the potholes, I think President Obama is being a bit too ambitious. He will most likely have democratic support, however he will have some trouble with gaining Republican support on almost anything that he proposes.
ReplyDeleteI think that something in the very beginning of the article almost immediately starts the pessimism and hopelessness for the chance of this bill. It talks about trying to make unity among democrats instead of trying to compromise with republicans. Even though parties are shifting further and further apart ideologically and compromise is becoming increasingly difficult, not even attempting to compromise is only going to make compromise more and more difficult. I really think that this almost contributes to the doubt about the chance of this bill passing, along with the fact that it's just a bad time for this bill in general. Something like this is not going to pass any time soon,and if it's going to at all, compromise and debate between parties is definitely going to help its chances of becoming a law.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Michaela and everyone else that this article's tone about the likeliness of the plan going anywhere is a pretty good sign that it's not going to pass. I agree with a lot of the different ideas that Obama includes in this budget, so I think it is a little disappointing that it will have "a short shelf life." The timing is off and while Obama is aiming to unite Democrats through his plan, Republicans would never consider it, and it will cause a lot more partisan tension.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that caught my eye in this article was how Obama is "Striving for unity among Democrats rather than compromise with Republicans." To me, this is a poor step that will just make compromise much harder in the end. Because of this, and many other factors, I don't believe this bill will go very far and as the article states, it will have a "short shelf life."
ReplyDeleteThis article correlates really well with the video we were watching in class today. This plan is really similar to what Obama did in his first term/ first year as president. He strived to make peace with the Republicans, but ended up relying on the Democrats. The economy has been struggling for a while, and I think that if stimulus didn't work in the past, it probably won't work this time.
ReplyDeleteGosh well what year isn't a “tumultuous year” for the U.S government?? Like Yarrow just wrote, it's similar to the compromise effort during Obama's first term in the presidency. (Although, Yarrow, just because it didn't work in the past doesn't necessarily mean it will fail again...our political system and economy both are subjected to constantly changing conditions that could allow a plan to either fail or succeed in different circumstances.) All this being said, like everyone else and the article already said, this bill seems doomed.
ReplyDeleteIt's very telling that Obama is choosing to try and gather widespread support among his fellow Democrats instead of trying to obtain bipartisan support. Maybe, as we learned from the video today, he realizes from last time that no matter what, he won't be getting the Republican support that he wants for any proposed budget plan.
ReplyDeleteWith this upcoming year Obama is searching for new ways to bypass the broken and dysfunctional system that is our Congress in order to have actual work done. With introducing this new budget plan he most likely is making any sort of deal between the White House and Congress even more difficult especially after how hard it was to get the last budget plan passed through both houses. The last thing Obama needed to do is bring this back up when the only reason that he had it pass the last was because of a democratic majority, it will only strengthen the division between the two parties.
ReplyDeleteLike my classmates I do doubt this bill will be passed. I find it interesting that as I read the comments above pretty much everyone is in agreement that they are supporters of this bill but we all doubt it will be passed. I think it is promising that more recently we have seen compromises in congress, but I don't think the representatives are quite yet willing to make a compromise of this size.
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