Congress has ‘successfully’ postponed passing a budget

Richard Fulton

Clunk, rattle, rattle, tink, tink, tink.

That’s the sound of yet another can being kicked down the road. It should not be a surprising sound since it comes from Congress on a regular basis.

This time, of course, the subject of can-kicking is the fiscal year 2016 federal budget. There are 16 bills that fund the federal government.

Congress must pass them all to keep each area of government going.

The federal fiscal year begins Oct. 1, yesterday. Until Wednesday afternoon, there was no agreement between the Republicans and the Democrats on the key budget issues.

The ultra-conservative Republican caucus in the House has tried for months to tie funding for Planned Parenthood to the passage of any compromise on extending the budget if temporarily. They wanted to put the defunding of Planned Parenthood into the temporary budget package past the Sept. 30 deadline.

Democrats refused to allow this to happen.

The fight against Planned Parenthood and other hard conservative issues has been led by maverick Republican, and erstwhile presidential candidate, Ted Cruz. He is a budget hawk, wanting to cut spending drastically (except for military spending) and he used the Planned Parenthood spat to attempt to thrust as a leader of the cause.

An anti-abortion group had edited some secretly filmed discussions within Planned Parenthood on the disposal of fetus from abortions. It made it looked like the organization was trying to sell the fetus parts.

The group vehemently denies this.

A report from a St. Louis investigative official states unequivocally that there is absolutely no evidence that Planned Parenthood sells fetus but rather legally burns them.

There are hearings before Congress on this issue currently.

You can see the emotionalism inserted into the argument for funding Planned Parenthood. It is interesting to note that that organization gets no monies — none — from the federal government to perform abortions. Furthermore, the organization spends only 3 percent of its own resources for abortion.

They give contraceptive information and family planning counseling to tens of thousands of women.

A leading medical journal, the New England Journal of Medicine, pleaded in a recent article for the continued funding of Planned Parenthood. It claimed that organization was a major force for the fall in the number of abortions in the U.S. in recent years.

Separate from this, thousands of prominent medical personnel, especially doctors, have called for the continued funding.

But back to the budget battle.

Speaker Boehner, who has said he is resigning at the end of October, outmaneuvered the House radical Republican conservatives and got a bill passed that would extend the funding for the federal government until Dec. 11.

At the last minute on Sept. 30, the Senate approved the House bill.

Ted Cruz went on a tirade against the House Republican leadership especially, but did not leave out the Senate leadership.

He is hoping the far conservatives will hear him and back his bid for the Republican nomination for president.

So far he’s made little headway in this.

The can, then, has been duly kicked — to Dec. 11.

Will Republicans renew their efforts to say “our way or no budget,” closing government?

It wouldn’t be the first time.

And a Merry Christmas to Congress.

As Betty Davis famously said “Hold on to your hats, it’s going to be a bumpy road.”