Government shutdown threat looms over budget fight!

(Reuters)Senior Senate Democrats slammed Republicans on Sunday for a "reckless" threat to shut down the government amid deepening political posturing on both sides over federal spending and the budget deficit.

The House of Representatives voted on Saturday to cut federal spending by $61 billion through September. But the Republican measure will likely die because Democrats who control the Senate oppose it and
President Barack Obama vowed to veto it.

Obama has outlined his own plan for less-severe spending cuts in 2012, and has warned that tightening the belt too much too soon could harm the slow economic recovery.

Democratic Senator Charles Schumer criticized House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell over talk among some Republicans that they would rather shut down the government than relent on their spending cut demands.

"Unfortunately Speaker Boehner seems to be on a course that would inevitably lead to a shutdown ... That's reckless," Schumer said on CNN's "State of the Union" program.

"We have said shutdown is off the table ... Boehner, Mitch McConnell, other Republican leaders have not taken it off the table when asked, and there are lots of people on the hard right clamoring for a shutdown."

With the government funded only through March 4, the government could run out of money if lawmakers fail to act, but both sides have been urging compromise. That was seen as the likeliest outcome, even by one of the House's new breed of small-government, deficit-slashing freshman Republicans.

"When it goes to the Senate, they're going to make their changes and then it's got to go to the president. So you know, it will not be in the form that we produced yesterday morning at 5 a.m.," Representative Steve Southerland, a first-term Republican from Florida, said on ABC's "This Week" news program.

Democrats also want to shrink the deficit, projected to hit $1.65 trillion or 10.9 percent of the economy this year. Senate Democrats are likely to endorse a spending bill that cuts funds, but not as deeply as the House did.

NOT SEEKING SHUTDOWN

The House bill is more than an effort to cut the deficit. Republicans are also trying to use the budget process to starve government programs such as healthcare and regulation of Wall Street and the environment that they have long opposed.

Republican Representative Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, downplayed the shutdown scenario on CBS' "Face the Nation" program.

"We're not looking for a government shutdown, but at the same time we're also not looking at rubber stamping these really high, elevated spending levels that Congress blew through the joint two years ago," Ryan said.

The United States faces global criticism for running huge deficits financed by borrowing from abroad.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told officials of the Group of 20 major nations on Saturday that the White House's budget for 2012 will meet its G20 commitment to halve fiscal deficits by 2013.

The deficit hole has been deepened by the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy that Republicans insisted on extended in an economic stimulus deal with Obama last year.

But the House-passed budget left untouched major items such as the Medicare and Medicaid healthcare programs for the elderly and the poor, seen as key drivers of the deficit, along with the economic downturn and the costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We need to close some of the tax loopholes for special interests like the oil companies, $40 billion worth of loopholes. I hope our Republican friends will join us in closing some of those," Democratic Representative Chris Van Hollen said on CBS's "Face the Nation."

*Not surprised that the idiot house republicans are complaining and threatning a gov't shutdown. It's just like them to act as political zombies while their tea party (no party) pull the strings and tell them what to do. If anything house-speaker Boehner needs to step up and get his party under control before the American people over-throws his party.*

To hear a great show on politics check out "Literary Diva of Blogtalk Radio "A Political Hot Mess: Demented Politicians Playing Political Games" at www.blogtalkradio.com/diva29


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Pocomok City water wins taste test award!

(Ocean Pines Indpendent)Pocomoke has some of the best-tasting water in the country, judging by its second-place finish in a nationwide taste test of rural water supplies.

In April, Pocomoke City entered the judging at the Maryland Rural Water Association's conference in Ocean City and came away with a new title: purveyors of the best-tasting water in the state. With that award in hand, the town was eligible to enter the national association's competition. According to Mike Phillips, superintendent of water and wastewater, there were at least 25 other utilities entered in the state contest.

There were 33 utilities judged in the first round of the national competition, from which five finalists were chosen. Pocomoke City won the silver medal by coming in second place. The gold went to the Central Iowa Water Association in Newton, Iowa, a non-profit water utility with pipes in 15 counties. A water utility in St. Helens, Ore., took the bronze medal and the runners-up were water-drinkers in Lowry City, Mo., and Stanley, Va.

According to Chris Wilson, a spokesman for the national association, the entries were judged on "clarity, bouquet and overall taste." A panel of three judges was responsible for finding the winners.

Councilman Robert L. Hawkins, first vice president, said that he was "elated" with the news, especially since the town had had complaints in the past. "We have been working hard to get the system squared away," he said. Pocomoke has been "pigging," or cleaning, the lines in the Pocomoke Heights area, at a cost of about $90,000, and Hawkins said the number of complaints has gone down since the project was completed. The sample sent in for the competition, he said, was drawn from a tap in a private home.

Councilman Bruce Morrison, the second vice president, said he was "ecstatic" about the award. "There was a lot of competition," Morrison said. "This shows the staff is doing an excellent job."

City Manager Russell W. Blake said that Pocomoke City is drawing water from a good aquifer. The present water plant is about 15 years old and the town just added a new well this past year.

There are 28,000 utilities in the national association, which holds the Great American Taste Test annually as part of the Rural Water Rally in Washington, D.C. The state associations were formed to give technical assistance to the towns and utilities.


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