The Cutting-Room Floor
Louis | Aug 02, 2010 |
1 A small article from The Hill caught my attention Friday evening, because it illustrates how complex the federal appropriations puzzle really is. The Congressional Black Caucus is upset after White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel promised Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) $1.5 billion in farm disaster relief in exchange for her support of the (soon-to-be filibustered) small-business bill. The CBC is miffed because the administration is stonewalling them on the settlement of Pigford v. Glickman:
Six members of the Congressional Black Caucus wrote to President Obama on Thursday calling on him to find a way to compensate black farmers who suffered discrimination in government loan programs during the 1980s and 1990s.
[snip]
…the administration has told black farmers it lacks the funds to pay a $1.2 billion agreement they reached with the Department of Agriculture in 1999 to settle the Pigford class-action lawsuit.
[snip]
The lawmakers say that Obama should also take administrative action to pay $3.4 billion the federal government promised to settle claims that it mismanaged Native American trust funds. Elouise Cobell is the lead plaintiff in the case against the Interior Department.
Lincoln’s $1.5 billion was originally part of the small-business bill and was later removed in a vain effort to curry Republican support.
What does this have to do with defense spending?
Iraq & Afghanistan, Congress, Defense Spending, Congressional Black Caucus (all tags)
