Political Quotes

“Congress is facing two fast-approaching budget deadlines: December 13 for a budget deal and January 15 for a funding bill to avert another government shutdown. Given the complexity of the issues, the brief window of opportunity, and the upcoming holiday season, meeting those deadlines will be a challenge. But it is a challenge Congress must meet. If we don't get a budget deal, we don't get a budget topline; we don't get any relief from sequestration; we can't write the 2014 appropriations bills, and we default to a year-long CR. That is a nightmare scenario. A long-term CR is the worst way to fund the government. It merely recycles last year's funding levels to meet this year's funding priorities. That makes as much sense as using last year's canceled checks to pay this year's bills. The military construction Program is the poster child for everything that is wrong with a CR. The 2014 Senate MILCON-VA bill includes $4.8 billion for the construction of hundreds of new-start MilCon projects throughout the United States. The 2013 bill--which sets the funding levels for the CR--funded a totally different set of MILCON projects, and the funding does not align with the 2014 program. For example, the Army needs $\1/2\ billion less for MILCON in 2014, and the Air Force needs $800 million more. A CR written at 2013 levels would not reflect those requirements, meaning the Air Force would come up short while the Army would be awash in MILCON dollars it does not need.…”