Republicans Hold Government Budget Hostage on Environment, Abortion

By Rona Fried

Although neither the environment nor abortions (through de-funding Planned Parenthood) are related to deficit reduction, Republicans are holding the government budget hostage until they get their way on these issues. They are willing to shut down the government to get their way.

‘These matters have no place in a budget bill," says Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. "We should not be distracted by ideology – this is a bill that funds that government."

Democrats have already caved to the GOP’s fiscal demands, which focus on a tiny portion of the federal government and do little to affect the long term deficit. The $33 billion in budget cuts don’t make a dent in the deficit, but they do undermine just about every social and environmental program in the US.

One of the top priorities for House Republicans is to strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its ability to regulate greenhouse gases. The Senate rejected the rollback, and President Obama has promised to veto it if it reaches his desk.

Among the 18 or so environmental riders to the House Continuing Resolution (which sets out the federal budget) would block the EPA from issuing or enforcing new regulations on mercury emissions from cement factories, pollution into the Chesapeake Bay, surface coal mining and runoff into Florida waters. If passed, these measures would not only compromise the environment, they also threaten public health.

Polls from Gallup and the Wall Street Journal/NBC News find that self-identified Democrats and independents want leaders to compromise while self-identified Republicans would rather see the government shut down than compromise.

Republicans are looking to the long term. Although funding health care services for poor women (Planned Parenthood) and EPA regulations can be returned in future congressional sessions, it is much harder to reinstate them once they’re wiped out. 

How Congress Could Really Raise Revenue

If the issue is truly the deficit, Republicans should be open to raising revenue as well as implementing spending cuts. Their goal should be to balance the budget.

Since their focus is solely on spending cuts, they clearly have something else in mind and that’s ideological maneuvering. If they were really looking to "share the pain" to cut spending, why do they refuse to cut oil and farm subsidies or the defense budget? All their cuts come straight out of the poor and the middle class.

"Unnecessary Austerity," a new Institute for Policy Studies report, demonstrates how Congress can raise over $4 trillion in revenue over the next decade simply by reversing years of tax giveaways to the richest Americans and largest corporations. 

The report examines massive shifts in the tax code since 1961 – if corporations and households with over $1 million in income paid the same taxes as they did then, the Treasury would collect an additional $716 billion a year – $7 trillion over a decade.

"This potential shutdown is an unnecessary exercise," says report co-author Chuck Collins. "Congress has prioritized tax cuts for the wealthy and failed to crack down on corporate tax dodgers, fueling a budget crisis."

The report offers eight potential revenue sources, which together would boost revenue by $4 trillion over the next 10 years, including:

• Close overseas tax havens ($90-100 billion)
• Add new tax brackets for households with over $1 million in annual income ($60-80 billion)
• Institute a modest financial transaction tax, which would also prevent risky trades by banks ($150 billion)

America’s increasingly concentrated income and wealth, coupled with historically low effective tax rates on the richest households, are fueling the deficit, according to the report.