Ret10Echo
02-01-2010, 06:53
The budget goes up to the Hill today....story about that here (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100201/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_budget)
What catches my eye is the "Massive deficits" part.
Normally it might be expected to be a garbage-in-garbage-out situation, I am not sure some of the critters are going to stick their necks out too far.
Found this article on what the Blue Dogs are talking about along with the attached Blue Dog Coalition position.
R10
Blue Dog Dems hound President on budget priorities
February 1, 2010
By Max Cacas
Reporter
FederalNewsRadio
President Obama is putting the final touches on his budget, which goes to Congress this morning.
But even as the budget package is being finished, conservative Democrats, better known as the "Blue Dogs," are weighing in on what they believe the President's budget priorities should be.
Federal News Radio recently spoke to one of the leaders of the Blue Dog Democrats, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D.-Tx), about their budget ideas in the halls of the U.S. Capitol. They have submitted a "blueprint" outlining those priorities to the President.
"We're trying to get the administration, and the rest of the Congress, to concentrate on the things that are important. This is what the American people have been asking us to do. How do we reduce the Federal deficit? If you look at the national debt, it's the largest we've ever seen. What we're looking at is, what else can we do?"
Cuellar says passage of a return to Clinton Administration-era "pay-go" legislation, in which any increases in federal spending must be matched by a decrease in spending elsewhere, is a part of the package.
Another aspect is "results oriented government", or "performance-based budgeting."
"A lot of members (of Congress) who come from state legislatures are familiar with that," he said, adding "it's settting performance measures so we get the most bang for the dollar and eliminate waste and abuse out there."
Cuellar believes that the Blue Dog Democrats are on the same page with Jeffrey Zients, President Obama's Chief Performance Officer at the Office of Management and Budget. Zients is a strong proponent of performance based budgeting, and Cuellar says he has had discussions with Zients about implementing and even codifying into law some aspects of performance-based management into certain appropriations bills.
Using the Department of Housing and Urban Development as an example, Cuellar says current performance measures are based on "activity within an agency. We want to measure how many people are we actually putting into homes," with Federal housing programs. "How many people are actually getting their homes rehabilitated?"
He believes well-implemented performance budgeting looks at the end result of such spending, and whether a program is effective.
What catches my eye is the "Massive deficits" part.
Normally it might be expected to be a garbage-in-garbage-out situation, I am not sure some of the critters are going to stick their necks out too far.
Found this article on what the Blue Dogs are talking about along with the attached Blue Dog Coalition position.
R10
Blue Dog Dems hound President on budget priorities
February 1, 2010
By Max Cacas
Reporter
FederalNewsRadio
President Obama is putting the final touches on his budget, which goes to Congress this morning.
But even as the budget package is being finished, conservative Democrats, better known as the "Blue Dogs," are weighing in on what they believe the President's budget priorities should be.
Federal News Radio recently spoke to one of the leaders of the Blue Dog Democrats, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D.-Tx), about their budget ideas in the halls of the U.S. Capitol. They have submitted a "blueprint" outlining those priorities to the President.
"We're trying to get the administration, and the rest of the Congress, to concentrate on the things that are important. This is what the American people have been asking us to do. How do we reduce the Federal deficit? If you look at the national debt, it's the largest we've ever seen. What we're looking at is, what else can we do?"
Cuellar says passage of a return to Clinton Administration-era "pay-go" legislation, in which any increases in federal spending must be matched by a decrease in spending elsewhere, is a part of the package.
Another aspect is "results oriented government", or "performance-based budgeting."
"A lot of members (of Congress) who come from state legislatures are familiar with that," he said, adding "it's settting performance measures so we get the most bang for the dollar and eliminate waste and abuse out there."
Cuellar believes that the Blue Dog Democrats are on the same page with Jeffrey Zients, President Obama's Chief Performance Officer at the Office of Management and Budget. Zients is a strong proponent of performance based budgeting, and Cuellar says he has had discussions with Zients about implementing and even codifying into law some aspects of performance-based management into certain appropriations bills.
Using the Department of Housing and Urban Development as an example, Cuellar says current performance measures are based on "activity within an agency. We want to measure how many people are we actually putting into homes," with Federal housing programs. "How many people are actually getting their homes rehabilitated?"
He believes well-implemented performance budgeting looks at the end result of such spending, and whether a program is effective.