Obama's 2009 Fiscal Discretionary Budget

I was watching the debates on C-SPAN 2 as our United State Senators debated on the Amendments to the $410 billion 2009 fiscal federal spending bill.

The Senators that spoke did so very passionately about the negative impact, and consequences including these amendments in our budget would signify to their Grass Roots constituents who have been expressing their anger in any way they can get their messages across. From email, to phone calls, our Senators are hearing you loud, and clear.

It's a good thing that we speak to our elected officials, and express our views on the very important issues they have to make decisions on.

By letting them know how passionate you are on any given issue, helps them to make informed decisions. If we don't tell our politicians what we want, they can't stand before our governing body, and make our pleas as I watched them do today.

I couldn't help but notice that from the time I tuned in to the debates, I don't recall hearing from one single Democratic Senator. All of the pleas to remove these earmarks were coming from the Republican Senators. Their very passionate pleas to remove these amendments have a huge significance, and impact on each and every one of us.

I observed our Senators explain why they felt they wanted their colleagues to vote for the removal of these Amendments. Their arguments were very valid ones, but I couldn't help but notice that the room seemed rather empty.

The emptiness of the room gave me the impression that it didn't matter what was said in that room. I got the sense that most of the Senators had already made up their minds as to how they were going to vote.

As a concerned tax payer and voter, I felt like I held my breath as the Roll Call started, followed by the voting.

I can honestly say I was very worried, as most of these Amendments would impact me, or my family in some way, some day.

The first vote undertaken was the Amendment that would approve US Aid to Palestine. My concern about this one passing stems from the current state as our economy. Aiding yet more foreign countries could only make matters much worse.

I'm concerned about the future of my own family's future, and that of Our Country. Thankfully, our Senators voted to remove this amendment.

The second vote was to remove an Amendment that would approve funding a Study introduced by Secretary Of State Clinton and the DNI. The measure would approve the use of tax payer money to aid Egypt in patrolling the border to stop smugglers getting from Gaza into Sinai.

The request to reject the Amendment as part of the budget is because the bill already exists. Since we already have a funding policy in place, approving another could be sending the message that it wasn't done right to begin with.

Thankfully, this Amendment to the Budget Bill was not passed. We can now hold our heads a little higher as we have at least 'Saved Face'.

The next vote was to amend the fairness of an amendment already introduced that fund HIV/AIDS patients. The original legislation was passed three years ago, and already submitted for re-approval.

Our Senators attempted to have this renewal of the amendment removed because the States that originally received funding no longer have the same numbers of patients. Some of them have passed, and many have moved to other States.

They attempted to restructure, redistribute, and shift the funds to the States that now have higher numbers of patients then they did three years ago, and decrease the funds to those States that had a reduction in patients. In my view, this seemed fair enough.

However, the Senators in the room didn't agree. What motivation could they have for that? One can only guess. My guess is that they are up to no good. Unfortunately, greed and special interest has reared its ugly head again!

Unfortunately, in order for an HIV/AIDS patient to receive Federal Assistance, they would probably have to move to a State that gets the funding for it. That's our Government at work! What's fair to us obviously isn't fair to them.

The next vote was a last minute attempt to add another amendment to one that was going to be voted on. This one addressed a $4,000 fee when an application is submitted for a permit to explore for oil.

Energy companies looking for ways to meet ever increasing demand are looking for alternatives to our dependence on foreign oil. They do this in order to provide us with the services we depend on them for, each and every day.

Typically, when an energy company submits an application for such permit, they don't only submit one, but an average of about four. That's $4,000.00 for each application.

In exchange for the application and the $4,000 our government makes a commitment to get an answer back to the applicant in 30 days. However, those 30 days seems to have turned into a four month wait.

The Senator that tried to get this approved for vote suggested the $4,000 be used to hire more people to process the permits, and clear out the backlog. According to the Senator, Johnson County, Wyoming alone has a backlog of 2,600 applications. Where does the money go? In the Senator's own words 'Washington's Black Hole'! As I observed the face of the Floor President as he responded to the request, he got a smirk on his face and flat out said 'NO"!

That pretty much ended the business of the Budget for the day, and the session ended by addressing minor issues that took very little time, or effort......

That's all of the reporting on this issue for today, but to recap what I learned happened before I tuned in......

Many Amendment removals were rejected today. One of the most important to me, Ear marks! Senator McCain's request to reject the amendments that contained these earmarks was REJECTED?

What do the earmarks contain? Oh things like funding tattoo removal, totally teen zones where we get to send our kids to play video games, and a huge chunk of money to one university to provide classes that teach teachers to combat bullying!

A few of those amendments that will personally affect me are a decreased tax deductions for charitable contributions, and depending on income, I may no longer be able to take the deduction for the interest I pay on my mortgage!