The real story on the budget

[Right_in_Virginia]

The real story on the budget
donsurber.com, Feb 17, 2019, Don Surber

The budget resolution was supposed to be filled with landmines that would thwart President Trump's efforts to protect the nation. The rumor mill went into overdrive on Thursday and Friday.   I waited to see what was in the budget before I reacted.

Paul Bedard, now with the Washington Examiner, said none of the poison pills made it, and the president did far better than the media reported.

[...]

Bedard said the original continuing resolution set aside $500 million for the wall. President Trump nearly tripled that to $1.375 billion.

And Bedard reported, "On detention beds, the number increased 13 percent over fiscal 2018. And when another $750 million in transfer and reprogramming authority is added in, it represents a 44 percent increase, said the source.

"What’s more, the bill provides historic funding levels for ICE and Customs and Border Protection, a rejection of liberal efforts to kill the agencies. It was a 7 percent budget increase for a combined $21.5 billion."

Trump asked for the moon and the stars and the Milky Way. Pelosi said you'll get nothing. He'll settle for the moon then.


More:  https://donsurber.blogspot.com/2019/02/the-real-story-on-budget.html

[Right_in_Virginia]

Where Trump won: Historic ICE funding, triple wall miles, killed ‘poison pills’
Washington Examiner, Feb 15, 2019, Paul Bedard

[...]

Insiders who worked on the deal said that compared to going along with a spending continuing resolution, the GOP scored several wins, though it did not reach the $5.7 billion funding Trump wanted for the wall.   â€œI know the conventional wisdom is that he lost on the wall in this package. But he gained … under impossible conditions,” said one insider on background.

What’s more, Trump and GOP negotiators led by Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and his team blocked several moves by Pelosi and other Democrats to fill the deal with anti-wall moves like lowering spending for ICE and slashing the number of “detention beds” to hold criminal illegal immigrants.

“Pelosi lost. She knew her position on detentions beds was unsustainable and only playing to her fringe. She also said no new miles for the wall,” said the source. “She had to step back from all positions.”

Compared to a simple continuing resolution, or CR, with nothing extra beyond current spending levels set in fiscal 2018, Trump gained extra funding for the wall. A CR would have provided $500 million, said the source, but Trump received $1.375 billion. That is “triple” the number of miles in the fiscal 2018 budget and “nearly three times as much as would have been available under a CR,” said the source.

On detention beds, the number increased 13 percent over fiscal 2018. And when another $750 million in transfer and reprogramming authority is added in, it represents a 44 percent increase, said the source.

What’s more, the bill provides historic funding levels for ICE and Customs and Border Protection, a rejection of liberal efforts to kill the agencies. It was a 7 percent budget increase for a combined $21.5 billion.


https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/washington-secrets/where-trump-won-historic-ice-funding-triple-wall-miles-killed-poison-pills