It did not take long, did it? The packaging was prepared during what used to be the Regular Order period in budget formation for the vast, sprawling, incoherent budget of the United States of America. Who benefits from all this madness?

Without the Budget, or at least “a budget,” a lot of stuff has to stop. One of them is the prospect that we will stop paying our Soldiers due to the Emergency. We hear some comparisons in the current situation with the Emeergencies of ancient civilizations. The Romans shared some of them and had a phrase for it. “Quo Vadis,” they used to say with an eyebrow cocked up. That phrase meant “Who Benefits.” In more modern English vernacular, that could also be rendered as “Follow the money!” That takes one more word than the Latin phrase but amounts to the same thing.

We have talked about it here in the pages of the Daily Socotra. We are emerging from the “Slow News!” warmth of Summer. We have returned from vacation and opened the schools again, or at least those approved by Ms. Randi Weingarter. We would normally be looking around for the latest emergency on which to base our course as a ship of state.

This happened without discussion, which is exactly part of the problem. The old way of formulating the budget made a certain amount of common sense necessary. You still hear the two words that described the process: “Regular Order.” It was the way things were supposed to work. The Congress used to read the proposed President’s Budget when the White House got around to issuing the President’s Budget, normally something happened fairly early in the new fiscal year. And there you are with the first problem, which we would characterize as an “Emergency in Progress” requiring an emergency response

You have heard it this morning, which is the trial run since we anticipate the arrival of Monday tomorrow. This September moment represents the last installment of the American Fiscal Year, and hence an Emergency all it’s own. Two weeks to go in Fiscal 2023. If we arrive on 01 October without an approved budget, the U.S. government will be required to shut down. periodic confusion will not come as a surprise to anyone who has been watching our government for the last decade or two.

The Brookings Institution is rated as a slightly left-of-center institution with a reputation for skewed honesty and akimbo integrity. They looked at how we have arrived in the place we occupy today.

They have declared an Emergency, since the Experts over there at the headquarters on Mass Ave. They are harnessing the first part of the next emergency. Back in July there was a different emergency, which was about shutting down the government. It may sound like the same emergency that is emerging now, which it is, of course. The particulars of this Budget Emergency were simply kicked down the calendar. to bring us to the Monday Emergency tomorrow.

The Brookings folks have observed this and consider the annual appropriations process to be in a state of collapse. They base that grim assessment on some principals with which we generally agree. The Brookings team claims the primary symptom of this Emergency is the decline of “Regular Order.” That is the old procedure for debating and passing the individual appropriations bills in the House and Senate. Tomorrow, the inability of Congress to follow the old procedure will result in the light-off of the latest Budget Emergency.

That declaration will reflect the consequences of the transition to Emergency Rule. With only two weeks to go on Fiscal ’23, it will likely result in the passage of another huge “omnibus” (Latin for “everything”) budget package at the end of the session. There will be little scrutiny or opportunity for amendment, which is how the budget business used to be done. The point of this is that under the provisions of Emergency, no one is responsible for anything.

Or, taking a generous approach, we are all responsible for everything. Which is to say it is so big that no one really is responsible for anything.

Both chambers on the Hill have some responsibility for the breakdown in this key part of formulating the federal budget. Brookings blames the Senate’s rules and procedures for causing the perpetual Emergency. Their Experts say that it’s time to restore regular order. To do this, we need first to recall the House is controlled by one party while the Senate is controlled by the other. We do not agree with the Brookings Economic Experts on their categories of Emergencies, but we may be hearing about the following issues in the next two weeks, which include:

Reform the filibuster rule! A simple majority of Senators should be able to end debate on all matters related to appropriations bills.

Utilize concurrent consideration of appropriations bills! This would allow the Senate to move on appropriations bills without waiting for the House to finish action and would permit greater time for Senate scrutiny.

Restore limited earmarking! This is something that was a traditional process that directly benefitted the members of both Houses. Despite the arguments for eliminating earmarking, doing so has had the unintended effect of making it harder to pass appropriations. A limited restoration of earmarks could help achieve agreement yet maintain a curb on wasteful spending.

Reduce transparency! While open government is broadly supported, many lawmakers face intense scrutiny for their votes. Brookings claims that makes them reticent to vote for any compromise. Members might be more inclined to cast tough votes on appropriations if only final tallies, not individual votes, were reported. We think this is a cause, rather than an effect.

It had been something to which we displayed little attention, since the Regular Order required the President’s proposal to be submitted to the individual Committees. That included the swarm of subsidiary sub-committees responsible for their Budget votes. You can see this is quite an Emergency, and we predict the number of them will be spectacular, considering what is at stake. That includes the right of members to print as much money as they want.

Imagine that power! It could even become an Emergency! Maybe we can talk about that sometime, in Committee or not. But it might be used to see who is benefiting from all this. Maybe we could follow the money, you know?

Copyright 2023 Vic Socotra
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