This morning the continuing resolution to fund the government until March 4, 2010 passed its first hurdle, cloture,m 82-14. Good news, right? We avoided a government shutdown. Except:
WASHINGTON—A Senate deal to fund the federal government until early March doesn't include money to enact the health-care overhaul or stepped up regulation of Wall Street, boosting Republican efforts to curb key elements of President Barack Obama's domestic agenda....
Congressional Republicans have said they will try to defund enactment of the health-care law's least popular provisions, particularly Internal Revenue Service efforts to enforce the requirement that most Americans carry health insurance.
Republicans were also looking at cutting funds for the law's expansion of the Medicaid insurance program for the poor, and for subsidies to offset the cost of buying insurance for lower earners. Cuts were also being weighed for a new board that will recommend Medicare spending reductions and for parts of the law arguably tied to coverage of abortion services....
With 10 percent unemployment, of course you want to scale back Medicaid funding, if you're a Republican. Of course, the Medicaid expansion was also the most progressive element of the reform law, so it's going to be a target. On the financial reform side,
implementation is stalled.
Already, the SEC has halted implementation of a variety of measures under the law as it waits for funding. Included in this halt are new regulations for credit rating agencies and an office for financial markets whistleblowers. The Commodity Futures and Trading Commission (which is charged with implementing the derivatives title of the bill) has said that its current funding level “is far less than what is required to properly fulfill our significantly expanded role.” “The implementation of that good and historic law is in jeopardy if the CFTC doesn’t have increased resources,” Bart Chilton, a CFTC commissioner, has said.
SEC Chair Mary Schapiro says that the agency isn't even operating in terms of staffing and technology at 2010 levels, which will be enshrined for at least the next three months, but at 2005 levels because her agency has been starved for so long.
Republicans weren't able to stop health insurance and financial reform at the legislative level, but they will do their damnedest to prevent the reforms from happening by starving them. Expect a replay in March, unless Dems do locate their spines and risk a government shutdown to preserve their accomplishments from this Congress.