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US Spending Debate Likely the First of Three in 2011

   VOA News  April 09, 2011
   US President Barack Obama makes a statement on the budget agreement,
   April 8, 2011

Photo: White House/Pete Souza

   US President Barack Obama makes a statement on the budget agreement,
   April 8, 2011

   With the threat of a U.S. government shutdown averted, President
   Barrack Obama and lawmakers are turning their attention to what are
   likely to be equally contentious debates over the country's debt
   ceiling and its 2012 budget.
   Numerous officials in Washington say the months-long political debate
   over 2011 spending that concluded Friday night is a prelude to a series
   of potential skirmishes over government spending during the next six
   months. Obama and his Democratic colleagues in Congress and Republican
   lawmakers reached a compromise on this year's budget at the last moment
   before many government operations would have been halted early Saturday
   if they had not come to an agreement.
   The next extensive spending debate is likely to occur soon, with
   Congress facing a decision on whether to raise the government's current
   $14.3 trillion debt ceiling that is likely to be reached by May 16. The
   U.S. Treasury issues debt to borrow money to operate the government and
   pay the country's bills.
   Then, during the summer and early fall, the White House and lawmakers
   will be debating government spending levels for the 2012 fiscal year
   starting in October.
   Only Congress can raise the debt ceiling, which Obama's administration
   has already requested. If the borrowing limit is not raised, the U.S.
   could not issue any more debt and could default on its financial
   obligations.
   Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says the prospect of a default is
   "unthinkable," an action that would call into question the government's
   financial standing throughout the world. But several Republican
   lawmakers say they are opposed to raising the limit without even deeper
   government spending cuts than those agreed to on Friday.
   The fight over spending priorities in the government's 2012 budget is
   almost certain to be as protracted and heated as it was over this
   year's spending plan. The Republican-dominated House is scheduled to
   vote next week on a plan that would sharply cut spending for next year
   and lead to $6.2 trillion in cuts over the next decade. Among other
   things, it would revamp and limit spending for the country's
   longstanding health care programs for the elderly and poor.
   Both political parties in the U.S. have reached a general agreement
   that government spending needs to be cut, but they differ sharply on
   what programs to cut. Republicans have generally favored trimming
   spending on social welfare programs, while Democrats have usually
   sought to protect those provisions and often instead limit tax breaks
   and certain programs for businesses.
   The final dispute in the deal reached Friday was reflective of the
   parties' policy differences.
   This time Republicans sought to eliminate $300 million in spending for
   Planned Parenthood, a group that provides health care services,
   including abortions. But Democrats successfully resisted elimination of
   the spending provision as the two parties agreed on $38 billion in cuts
   in the 2011 budget.
   The agreement reached Friday night averted what would have been the
   government's first shutdown in 15 years.

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