Probably because the House Republicans’ Continuing Resolution didn’t pass until 4:30 in the morning, and because it is the weekend, the White House has not yet released an analysis of the impacts of the spending cuts on various programs, departments, initiatives, and the overall economy. However, a look at some of the amendments that passed indicates that there will be plenty of fodder for absolutely drilling the Republicans in the next election and throughout the upcoming debate and probable government shutdown.
They’ve basically destroyed public broadcasting. They’ve completely ignored Robert Gates’s warning that their cuts to the State Department will turn Iraq into Afghanistan circa the mid-1990’s. They’ve gutted the EPA, cut their funding, prohibited them from regulating greenhouse gasses or polluting cement factories. They’ve prohibited the FCC from enforcing Net Neutrality. They’ve eliminated all funding for Planned Parenthood. They’ve slashed NASA’s budget. They’ve banned the (wholly voluntary) use of public funds for presidential campaigns or party conventions. They have prohibited “funds from being used by the Environmental Appeals Board to block air pollution permits required for offshore drilling projects along the Arctic Coast.” They have denied funding to implement the health care law. They’ve barred “funding to enforce regulations published by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation.” They’ve prohibited “funding to implement new Florida Water Quality Standards” and stripped money to protect the Chesapeake Watershed. They’ve prohibited “funds from being to be used by the EPA to revoke a permit under the Clean Water Act,” and “funding EPA waivers for ethanol content of gasoline.” They have prevented the Consumer Product Safety Commission from creating a consumer product safety information database.
It goes on and on. It’s like a Koch Brother’s wet dream. It’s the most extreme anti-environmental series of amendments imaginable, but it’s so much more.
And the Republicans should have learned from their success that voting for stuff that can be painted as radical that never becomes law is a recipe for a short political career.
