ANCHORAGE — Federal budget cuts are on the way and programs dear to Alaskans, such as highway and defense construction and rural health care, may not be spared over the next decade, according to U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
The country is drowning in debt, the Republican senator said Tuesday in a speech to Commonwealth North that was billed as a preview of the Capitol Hill agenda over the next four months.
“The spending levels are not sustainable,” she said. “Our country is drowning in debt. What we’ve then placed on children and grandchildren is simply not acceptable.”
How aggressively the nation’s leaders deal with the situation is going to shape the direction and the strength of the country, she said.
The Budget Control Act of 2011 plan approved last month does not get the budget under control, she said. It requires a reduction in spending of $917 billion. It requires Congress to vote on a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31.
And in a move that should generate headlines for the next eight weeks, it also establishes a 12-member bipartisan congressional committee to recommend by Thanksgiving ways to reduce the federal deficit by $1.5 trillion from 2012 to 2021.
Murkowski said she doesn’t care for that mechanism and the 12 members will have a tough job. Some have stated they do not want entitlement reform and some have said they do not want revenue increases. Every move the committee makes will be under a microscope and criticized by a constituency, she said.
However, if the committee is not successful, and if Congress fails to approve a plan for at least $1.2 trillion in savings over the 10 years, an enforcement mechanism called sequestration kicks in: automatic spending cuts with 50 percent from defense and 50 percent from “non-defense,” and decisions made by departments.
The committee will be able to build on previous work, including ideas floated earlier this year by a bipartisan group of senators, the “Gang of Six.”
Tax reform is likely to be on the table. Just raising taxes is not the answer, particularly at a time when the nation is struggling with a recession, Murkowski said, but she pronounced herself willing to look at the idea floated by billionaire Warren Buffett to “stop coddling” the mega-rich.
“I’m one of those that is willing to consider whether that proposition might have some merit as part of a comprehensive overhaul of the U.S. Tax Code,” Murkowski said. “I may be one of the few that says that publically.”
But what could Alaskans sacrifice with budget reduction?
That’s not defined, she said after the luncheon, but the state sees significant defense construction dollars, and if there are reductions, they will be felt here.
Likewise, dollars are in place for Indian Health Service construction projects such as hospitals in Barrow and Nome, but staffing that will be needed could be in jeopardy.
The formula for federal highway program has given Alaska more per capita than any other state, for a host of reasons built into the formula. Everything is likely to be scrutinized.
“The real question is, are there areas where we say, ‘This is a haircut that we just have to take?’ It’s going to be very hard.”
She urged people not to key in to one aspect of a budget reduction plan but to be open-minded and see what comes together as a whole.
“If we all start by saying, ‘It’s never going to work,’ it’s probably never going to work,” she said.
Comments (27)
Add commentGood! I would hope that we
Good! I would hope that we feel it. That means they are actually doing something! Everyone should feel it, across the board!
Lisa Murkowski needs to
My questions for Lisa Murkowski:
1. Lisa why are you Republicans cutting programs that people need when ending the Bush Tax Cuts alone would reduce the deficit by 3 trillion?
2. Lisa why are you Republicans not collecting revenue from those who can MOST afford it?
2a. Lisa why are you Republicans seeking to raise taxes on the working middle class??
Do people know that right now the Republicans want to raise our payroll taxes — to 6.2 percent from 4.2 percent? Lisa needs to explain this to us!
3. Lisa explain why you Republicans are focused on debt reduction during a recession when the focus should be on job creation?
3a. Lisa how will cutting all these programs create jobs?
Never before has our country cut programs during a recession and never before has our country not raised taxes to cover the costs of War! Bush took into a War on lies and he did not raise taxes to pay for it!
4. Explain just how cutting programs during a recession will help Americans?
5. Lisa explain how our country will stay competitive when we are cutting programs that people need, programs like education, health care, infrastructure and regulations!
Republicans have it ALL wrong!
The Republicans are FORCING our country into a double dip recession; Republicans are intentionally and I mean "INTENTIONALLY" harming our country because they want our current President to fail and the Republicans dont give a rats a ss about how their agenda is destroying this country and childrens future!
In 2012 Vote for Democrats folks !
They are the only party that will ever work for people!
Republicans only work for money
What is this "across the
What is this "across the board" crap? Are all forms of federal spending equal in terms of social benefit, economic stimulus, and inefficiency? No. Are all people in the U.S. "suffering" at the same rate from the recession? No.
This approach is akin to a doctor during an emergency situation amputating every injured person's right arm rather than treating them as individual patients with individual needs.
But "across the board" BS doesn't require any critical thinking or analysis. No wonder it's so popular with certain people/politicians.
I love how this is always
I love how this is always turned into republicans versus democrats. Both are guilty of spending like there is no tomorrow. I think every program out there has room to be trimmed. I may be wrong, but they should at least be looked at. There should be no sacred cows. Otherwise, military will be trotted out as the first sacred cow. Then the next and before long, you will find that you have an entire herd of sacred cows and you'll be up to your neck in sacred cow poo
Good Lord kpawsuh have you
Kpawsuh then you defend Murkowski and answer my questions on her behalf, explain just how what the Republicans are doing is helping our country?
I simply don't understand how
I simply don't understand how there is not a single mention of cutting our military spending... it's over 40% of our spending!? A war on terror is asinine - that is what special forces are for (as Bin Laden's killing proves).
I simply don't understand how
I simply don't understand how there is not a single mention of cutting our military spending... it's over 40% of our spending!? A war on terror is asinine - that is what special forces are for (as Bin Laden's killing proves).
Trent, somehow your post came
Trent, somehow your post came across missing parts or something. I got that you somehow think I am defending Murky2, and wanting to know how the repubs are helping the country. Are you sure you read my post? Both parties are equally fubar. You can't dig your way out of a hole. If you find yourself in a hole, you have to quit digging. Digging down will not get you up. You cannot dig through to China.
Kpawsuh - it is the
Kpawsuh - it is the Republicans 100%.
If you do not know this then you have not been following whats going on. This recession is on the backs of the Republicans.
Both sides are definitely NOT
Both sides are definitely NOT equally FUBAR. If you've been paying attention these last two years, one side was trying to govern. Not perfectly, mind you--no one can do that. But it was trying to get things done and it was trying to solve the problems our country faces. The other side filibustered everything in the senate, including things as apolitical as court appointments. And now that same side's presidential candidates is embroiled in conspiracy theories regarding the president, science denialism, fundamentalist Christian rhetoric, and fantasies about how the world works.
But of course one side being unable to control the reckless and crazy behaviors of the second makes both sides equally culpable.
Oh, so none of the Democrats
Oh, so none of the Democrats are taking lobbyist money. No Democrat is forwarding frivoulous legislation. And the Republicans are all the problem because the y might filibuster what some would argue are inappropriate legislation from the Dems. Oh how horrible. There is political grandstanding going on on both sides, and in the blogs I might add. I repeat BOTH sides are FUBAR. They are supporting their lobbyists and pocketing everything they can. They are pushing their personal and corporate special interests instead of the interests of the nation. It is bankrupting us.
The fact that the Republicans
The fact that the Republicans are corrupt as hell and uninterested in governing does not mean the Democrats are perfect. To the contrary. But please do tell me how filibustering court appointments is "inappropriate legislation." The fact is, there has never been abuse of the filibuster on this scale before. Never. Mitch McConnell has even said that his one goal is to prevent the Democrats from doing anything. So the Democrats are trying to do things, and the Republicans, rather than looking at each individual item and deciding whether to support it or not, are just performing blanket opposition. But of course both sides are equally to blame.
It's also worth it to note that some of the Democrats' funding still comes from unions, whereas practically ALL of Republicans' comes from corporations. I don't know about you, but union interests (fair wages, greater employment, better treatment, etc.) more closely represent mine than corporate interests (more profit, less responsibility for employees, more freedom to pollute, etc.). Obviously the system is broken, but some participants are more broken than others.
PP, Please provide a source
PP, Please provide a source for that claim. I would like to see funding sources, broken out by political party, demonstrating that all Dems are mostly funded by unions and all repubs are mostly funded by corps. Seems to me that many on both sides are funded by oil companies. Pharmaceuticals too. Military contractors go after both sides. I think that both sides have their hand out to whoever is paying.
They filibustered a court appointee. Perhaps they didnt like his stance on things. I know I have seen some that its like nominating a crack dealer to head the narcotics task force. Fair and impartial are supposed to be the hallmarks, not bigoted and narrow minded but in the same way as me so its ok. If the repubs put a lawyer version of Billy Graham in as a nominee the Dems would scream.
And trotting out one example of a republican who says he'll block everything from a Dem is hardly proving that all the republicans are following suit.
You of all people shouldnt be issuing blanket statements of opinion with paltry supporting evidence
kpawsuh, I did not say that
kpawsuh, I did not say that Democrats are mostly funded by unions, I said that Democrats still have some union funding, while Republicans do not.
Also, Mitch McConnell is the minority leader of the senate. He's not "one example" of a Republican, he's the boss Republican in the senate.
Anyway, here are your citations.
http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-LABOR_0801-17.html...
As you can see, labor unions donate almost exclusively to Democrats, though their funding is positively dwarfed by business spending, which mostly goes to Republicans. I was no able to find statistics on individual donations, but I'm pretty sure Republicans don't outspend Democrats by that much, so Democrats must also receive more individual political donations than Republicans do.
We can also see that Obama has historically low court appointment rates, thanks to a filibuster-happy Senate (second two charter):
It appears the the
It appears that the confirmation votes were pretty consistant regardless of presidential affiliation until Obama. Maybe he is more prone to pushing ideology? Not as good at building bridges? I don't know but that one seems to be just an isolated event to him, for whatever reason. Why is it that everyone is so polarized when it comes to this presidency? (and dont just say racism. That dog dont hunt.)
You know as well as I do that
You know as well as I do that Obama is a very centrist president. The most radical thing he's done is Obamacare, which is almost exactly what Republicans proposed as an alternative to Clinton's plan in the 90's. He has, unfortunately, consistently moved to the right in efforts to compromise with the GOP.
And I don't know why racism "don't hunt." We had a large conspiracy movement claiming he was not a natural citizen and had been born in Kenya. Would a white person have been accused of being born in another country? We have all kinds of racist images floating around the conservative blogosphere. Has this ever happened to a white president?
Remember that most racism, most prejudice in general, is subconscious. Overt racism is mostly dead, which is a good thing, but subconscious racism is not. A lot of people, particularly in places where overt racism was more forcibly quashed, still harbor a lot of attitudes that result in resentment when "one o' them folk" inhabits the white house. There are still a lot of people alive today who were racist during the Civil Rights Movement and who instilled their racist ideas into their children's minds during that period.
I think the racist images are
I think the racist images are more the crtoonists depiction. They pick anything that they can lanpoon. Clinton, it was his nose, his hillbilly-ness. Bush it was the ears and his difficulty with the english language. Race is an easy target and there are lots of lazy bottomfeeding editorialists and political satirists. But I mean more the core of americans. There are fringe weirdos about everything but the core seem deeply divided regarding him. My African American friends are the same way. Half love him, half hate him. Are they judging him by race too?
Largesse
All we do is sit and complain about how much money we can get, either from a job or the gummint.
Dems are good at trying to get money from the haves, to give to the have nots.
Repubs are good at trying to stop the largess, while lining their pockets with lobbying money. Actually both parties line their pockets with lobby money and campaign contributions.
Some of you would have the rich pay for you to sit around and watch TV. The rich are finding ways to move their wealth offshore. These folks went to school and made their wealth. I find it hard to believe that someone would whine about the rich, while not getting an education, and living off the dole.
It's gotten to the point that there are more people on welfare than those that are working. It irks me that I have to pay out half of my hard earned money to some lazy nogoodnik who won't work, because they have learned how to bilk the system.
Like I have said before, quit whining about not being a have, get an education, and you too can bilk people out of their money. It's just pure laziness.
One of the things that sickens me is little girls getting knocked up, knowing welfare (me) will pay for their child. Having children is fine, but only if you can pay for it yourself. The Dems have no problem raiding funds for that, while what's left of the middle class have to pay for it.
@vallbay: you're basically
@vallbay: you're basically saying, then, that everyone is irresponsible, manipulative, and bad except you.
This seems to be a common political position.
Cap the executive board rooms.
Without control of greed at the highest levels, people will work and earn bread and someone else will eat it.
Capitalism was an idea that let the individual decide on what he was worth and it worked for centuries, but raw materials are running out, the earth is caving in on itself from exploitation.
The only real question is, is it too late?
Funny how for 8 years....
It was perfectly ok for our "children and grandchildren" to pay for two wars where billions in cash and arms just dissappeared into thin air......
Who doesn't get that if we don't pay for it at the federal level, we will eventually pay for it at the state level, when it comes to roads etc.?
Let's get rid of golden parachutes for congress, stop "aid" payments to half the planet, around half of the military budget, and be done with it. Bring the soldiers home, use them to fortify our borders, and deal with natural disasters at home - paycheck for them, money spent at home instead of by some Irqqui chieftain, and better response than FEMA.
how about...
WE STOP SENDING LEGISLATURES TO HAWAII FOR MEETINGS WHEN THEY CAN DO THEM HERE!!!! 900 DOLLARS A NIGHT?!?!? REALLY?!?!?
...
I think it's hilarious that people are pointing fingers at Republicans and begging to vote for Dems to fix everything...
On a completely side note- Obama is running again in 2012.
No need to be partisan!
Things are not necessarily black or white - I tend to prefer the Democrats, but that is not my party either. No Worries! Next time, to save any arguments folks, feel free to vote for any party except the republicans. They are certainly nutz.
'Nuff Said!
The GOP primaries:
The tallest leprechaun wins.
(No disrespect to leprechauns intended...)
god fearing
All the while Mr. god-fearing-conservative Sean Parnell wants to give oil executives and their shareholders the extra 5% revenue that he wants to cut from the us, Alaskans. We need highway repair, and rural health care money that the feds are going to cut from us. Our socialism-roller coaster ride of federal dollars is coming to an end, uncle Teddy's dead and the washington money is drying up, not a time to cut oil taxes.
I See
Seems to me, Lisa is actually telling the truth here. She is admitting that she can not get the job done before she even tries. She is admitting that she will not accomplish anything advantageous to the State of Alaska near the level of results we grew accustomed to with Uncle Ted. There is one thing for certain, her seat is not up for re-election anytime soon, or is that "re-write-in"? So the sky is falling? Thank you Senator Murkowski for that news. Your hands are tied and there is nothing you can do. Lower our expectations? Is that possible???