PB- A daily dose of America's Politics

Fifty-four  bills were blocked in Congress by the Republican/Tea Party-controlled House of Representatives, this include the American Jobs Act, 2010 that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimate would create 3 million new jobs in the country; the highway and bridge construction bill, high-speed rail bill, Immigration Reform, the Farm bill that would also provide disaster assistance to farmers and ranchers. The 2013 federal minimum-wage salary increase provision was blocked, five (5) Veteran-related bills, and the extended unemployment insurance benefits for 1.6 million Americans that expired on December 28, 2013; another 4.5 million unemployed Americans will lose benefits on June 15. The national credit rating was lowered because of the gridlock in Congress over the debt limit. U.S.-based rating agency S&P issued a "negative" outlook on the U.S.'s "AAA" (highest quality) sovereign-debt rating for the first time since the rating agency began in 1860 on April 18, 2011. The nation's "coveted" top-notch "AAA" (highest quality) credit rating was lowered to AA+ on August 5, 2011. The U.S. enjoyed the "gold standard" of triple-A ratings from all three agencies (Fitch, Moody's and S&P) from the time of their recognition as standards by the SEC until the downgrade. You might be wondering how this lowered credit rating and continuing gridlock for the U.S. affects you, personally.(Wall Street Journal)



The fact is that it would affect all United States citizens. None of us will be untouched by a poor credit rating for the country. It would cost the United States government and businesses more to borrow money. If it costs them more, then it stands to reason that it will cost you more, too. Those higher costs of borrowing money will be by necessity passed on to you; the consumer. The 16-day government shutdown cost the U.S. economy $24 billion dollars and 800,000 + furloughed without any shame. The first $4 billion dollars cut to SNAP (food stamps) went into effect on November 1, 2013. 16 million poor kids, 17 million elderly seniors, food pantries across the country, former Veterans (900,000) and some active-duty (6,000 est.) military families were affected. A mess was finally passed on 01/29/'14 that cut another $4.7 billion dollars from the SNAP program (total cuts=$8.7 billion dollars). The House SNAP bill is harsh. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates it would deny SNAP to approximately 3.8 million low-income people in 2014, and to an average of nearly 3 million people each year over the coming decade. Those who would be thrown off the program include some of the nation’s most destitute adults, as well as many low-income children, seniors, and families that work for low minimum wages. $39 billion dollars will be cut over 10 years, because of the 2013 budget sequestration.









The only positive thing that came out of the Congress during the 16-day shutdown was a provision that Congress will no longer receive an automatic annual pay increase after 2013. It is also important to mention that big corporations, some that earned record profits in 2013 like Exxon Mobil (second-highest annual profit in U.S. history) received $4 billion dollars in 'taxpayer' subsidies. Instead of having an American resurgence; we are in a "race to the bottom" in some areas with third world countries. Since Congress members are elected every two years (Senate: six years), we vote for all members of the House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Can you or the nation afford two more years of "crazy talk" (nonsense) and "do-nothing?"
Yes I do a lot of reading!!