Budget deal details: Cuts that aren't quite cuts

[Dokkie]

$38B in savings agreed to by GOP and Democrats averted a government shutdown, but new details indicate some accounting sleight-of-hand

CBS/AP) Details of the $38 billion worth of spending cuts factoring in last Friday's 11th-hour budget that averted a government shutdown have been released, but the cuts, while historic, were significantly eased by pruning money left over from previous years, using accounting sleight of hand and going after programs President Barack Obama had targeted anyway.
CBS News Congressional correspondent Nancy Cordes reports that legislation that reflects the deal made between Republicans and Democrats was posted online at 1:30 this morning.

Members of Congress are going to be getting their first real look of the deal Tuesday, and Republicans in particular are sure to express frustration that so many of the cuts in the deal aren't exactly cuts at all.

A group of New York Democrats has also announced they would vote against the deal (which is likely to pass) because of the cuts to social programs.

Budget cuts target Democratic priorities

Among the cuts:

$700 million from clean and safe drinking water programs;
$390 million from heating subsidies;
$276 million from pandemic flu prevention programs; and
$1.5 billion from the president's new $8 billion initiative to spur high-speed rail development.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/04/12/earlyshow/main20053039.shtml

And who said President Obama wasn't a skilled negotiator. The tea baggers would burn John Bonner at the stakes if they see the details of the agreement :)

[aSpeckofDust]

1. This may seem like a stupid question, but..

What did the republicans give up? Any cuts to their favored programs?

[Dokkie]

2. Read it and see.

Its a very short article but in essence they got none of the big targeted programs that they wanted and when I say none, I mean none of what they wanted. I quite surprised at the details especially when the brown man came out declaring victory. Talk about delusion on the right. Only if Obama had used some of his latest negotiating skills during the tax cuts battle, we could have repealed the tax cuts for the rich while leaving the middle class tax cuts intact.

[ClassWarrior]

3. But what did they give up?

NGU.

[Dokkie]

5. They didnt really give up anything per say

But they got Obama to support DC school voucher bill which some DC democrats support and banning of federal funding for abortion which essential means no funding for abortion since DC is not a state. But am going to search around for other articles, am sure theres more to this story than meets the eye.

[ClassWarrior]

6. So we took huge cuts to programs for the needy, and they "didn't really give up anything per se?"

"And who said President Obama wasn't a skilled negotiator?"

:rofl:

NGU.

[walerosco]

8. Do you know what %age

was cut from the programs? maybe the $700 from the from clean and safe drinking water programs is just a fraction of the total dollars allocated for it. Also what are the chances that EPA (if I maye remind you wasn't cut) doesn't already have a program that covers it? Just because a program has an important sounding name doesn't mean its necessary. Look deeper into what was cut before criticizing the president, he may have just cut out some dead weight programs that really needs cutting

[aSpeckofDust]

4. I did read it. I was asking a question I already knew the answer to.

They didn't 'give up' anything. Their demands weren't met, sure, but they didn't give up anything. One sided negotiations suck.

[walerosco]

7. try not showing this

to the Bill Mahers of this world. It just might blow their heads.
1000+ for Obama