Politics Disad – Jackson-Vanik

Coast Guard/Water Infrastructure—unpopular

Coast guard and water infrastructure unpopular—most department cuts and bureaucracy problems

Turner, 10—Washington columnist

(Douglas Turner, Washington columnist for Buffalo News, August 21, 2010, Buffalo News, “Douglas Turner: It’s irresponsible to cut Coast Guard funding”, http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial-page/columns/douglas-turner/article37860.ece)

A couple of weeks ago, Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., called the cuts in Coast Guard funding in President Obama’s budget “a recipe for disaster.” Mica said Obama’s proposed $100 million cuts for antiterrorism offshore, port and waterway security are “irresponsible and unacceptable.” Lieberman, now an Independent, and Mica, had one thing in common when they protested. They were both in the minority and powerless. The regular Pentagon armed forces — the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force — are getting a 3 percent increase in spending, not counting Obama’s wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Coast Guard, a foster child in five departments over its 220-year history, is getting slashed despite 17 new tasks thrust on it since 9/11. The Coast Guard suffers from a chronic influence deficiency. Unlike the four other armed services that have collected a massive complex of support from weapons makers, the Coast Guard is a bureaucratic step-child. It has no chief of staff at the Pentagon. Instead it has been shuttled in recent years from the Treasury to the Transportation Department, and now is buried deep in the Homeland Security Department.
Coast guard funding unpopular—budget requests

Hasson, 9

(Judi Hasson, journalist, March 18, 2009, Fierce Government IT, “Obama kills funding for GPS backup”, http://www.fiercegovernmentit.com/story/obama-kills-funding-gps-backup/2009-03-18)

President Obama's proposed 2010 budget cuts out funding for a backup to the Global Positioning System. The money had been part of the Department of Homeland Security budget to fund the Long Range Navigation System, or Loran-C, a terrestrial navigation system the Coast Guard operates. Terminating the system would save the government $36 million in fiscal 2010 and $190 million during a five-year period, according to the budget analysis. But critics say the backup is an essential part of the nation's basic infrastructure, and far more than just a directional tool for motorists to avoid getting lost. DHS spokesman Larry Orluskie described Loran-C as an "an antiquated navigation system" no longer required by the armed forces, the transportation sector or the nation's security interests."

Gas Tax – Congress Obstructs

Congress obstructs on gas tax

NPR 6/26

(Congress Taking Student Loans, Highway Bill To Wire by Andrea Seabrook 6/26/12, (All Things Considered) Copyright 2012 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.)

Congressional leaders say they are close to a deal on two issues with looming deadlines. But if Congress fails to lock down agreements this week, the federal highway program would come to a halt, and student loan interest rates would double. Congressional leaders on Tuesday said they were close to a deal to solve two big issues facing lawmakers — student loan interest rates and federal highway funding. Both issues with looming deadlines have high stakes for middle-income Americans: If Congress fails to reach agreements by this weekend, the federal highway program would come to a halt, and student loan interest rates would double, to 6.8 percent. Student Loans President Obama has been hammering on the issue of student loans for days. "This issue didn't come out of nowhere; it's been looming for months," Obama said last week. "But we've been stuck watching Congress play chicken with another deadline." This should be a no-brainer, the president said. If Congress doesn't act by July 1, more than 7 million students would see their interest rates double, costing them an average of $1,000 more per year. Even more perplexing is the fact that almost everyone in Congress seems to agree that the interest rates should stay down. So what's the problem? Well, how to pay for it. That's the root of just about every conflict in Congress these days. And it shows just how much the coming election plays into this year's policy debates. Republicans want to pay for the lower interest rate by cutting money from health care programs. Democrats want to raise payroll taxes on wealthier Americans. The Highway Bill Then, there's the highway legislation. It's a massive bill — worth more than $100 billion to fund infrastructure projects for the next two years. It means thousands of construction jobs, and that's one reason three-quarters of the Senate voted for it earlier this year. But in the House? Well, here's what Speaker John Boehner, the Ohio Republican, said after meeting with negotiators from his own party last week. "They've been heavily engaged, and clearly there's some movement that's been under way," said Boehner, before quickly changing the subject during a Q-and-A with reporters. "So, we're continuing to do our work. Listen, the American people deserve the truth about what happened in 'Fast and Furious.' " House Republicans seem far more interested in talking about the Justice Department's botched sting operation and a possible Thursday vote on whether to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress. Meanwhile, as negotiators try to work out thorny problems like construction spending and gasoline taxes, Washington's anti-tax guru has been lobbying Republicans hard, behind the scenes. Grover Norquist, the head of Americans for Tax Reform, reminded many GOP lawmakers last week of their pledge not to raise taxes on anything, ever. Norquist exacted this pledge from nearly every Republican freshman elected in 2010. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., the Senate's No. 2 Democrat, says that stance could jeopardize the highway bill altogether. "All the good bipartisan work in the Senate is going to go for naught if the House Republicans, particularly the Tea Party Republicans, are gonna wait for the thumbs up from Grover Norquist," says Durbin. When Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican, announced Tuesday afternoon that a deal was near on both standoffs, he had very little to say about the details. He couldn't even say whether Congress would actually pass a highway bill or just extend the current one until after November's election: "That, to my knowledge, is not yet resolved, as to whether that will be some kind of extension or a full multiyear bill, but those two could end up together." By "those two" he meant the highway funding and the student loan interest rate bill. Negotiators are now debating whether to roll these two issues together and take one big vote on them. That might be easier, considering the huge distractions still to come this week: the Holder contempt vote, and Thursday's expected Supreme Court decision on the health care law. As House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., put it, this week "so many things are coming together. Or not."

Congress split over tax cuts

New York Times, June 6^th

(Summers adds fuel to tax cut debate Article by: JONATHAN WEISMAN , New York Times Updated: 6/6, 2012 - 8:58 PM)

Congressional Republicans pounced Wednesday on disputed comments from Bill Clinton and a former senior Obama economic adviser, claiming that the Republican push to extend all of the Bush-era tax cuts beyond the 2012 expiration date has support at the highest levels of the Democratic Party. White House officials and congressional Democrats responded just as vigorously, saying neither the former president nor Lawrence Summers, a past director of the National Economic Council, ever said that all of the tax cuts should be extended. The exchange illustrated how politically sensitive the tax cut expiration has become in the wake of fresh data showing the economy slowing. A majority of voters say the federal budget deficit should be tackled with a mix of spending cuts and tax increases on the rich. In an April New York Times/CBS News poll, 56 percent favored boosting the economy by spending on education and infrastructure while raising taxes on the wealthy, against 37 percent who favored cutting taxes and spending. But Republicans have stood firm against any tax increase, and they are on the offensive, thanks in part to the confusing economic comments of Clinton and Summers. "Even Bill Clinton came out for it, before he was against it," said Speaker John Boehner. Both Democrats released statements shortly after their televised interviews denying they had said that they favored extending all the tax cuts. President Obama has endorsed extending tax cuts for the middle class, but he has promised to oppose any extension of Bush-era tax cuts for households earning more than $250,000. But after Friday's surprisingly weak jobs report for May, the Democrats have found themselves on the defensive. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., who wants his party to stand its ground, said: "There's a reason to be alarmed. Historically, economic sentiment in May predicts the outcome of presidential elections, and people are edgy." In the morning appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program that sparked the exchange, Summers appeared to signal that he favors a temporary extension of all the tax cuts. After host Mika Brzezinski mentioned Clinton's tax cut comments, Summers responded: "The real risk to this economy is on the side of slowdown, certainly not on the side of overheating, and that means we've got to make sure we don't take gasoline out of the tank at the end of this year. That's got to be the top priority." A few minutes later, he added, "For the medium and long term, we obviously have to do things to control the deficit," explicitly embracing tax increases on the rich." Together, the comments appeared to suggest that Summers opposed allowing any tax cuts to expire at the end of the year and preferred allowing the cuts on income above $250,000 to expire later. But he later said: "I fully support President Obama's position on tax cuts." Those events mirrored the dispute over Clinton's comments barely 12 hours before. In an interview on CNBC, Clinton appeared to say tax increases and Republican-led spending cuts should be temporarily set aside until the economy regains its footing. His spokesman later said the former president does not believe tax cuts for the wealthy need be extended.