CD165: Christmas Dingleberries

Congressional Dish

Right before Christmas, the government was temporarily funded for the fourth time this fiscal year, but this latest funding law came with a few surprises. In this episode, a feisty Jen outlines the law to expose a favor to the war industry, damage to the Affordable Care Act, a bad sign for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, a giant loophole that paved the way for a new mountain of government debt, and more. You’ll also learn about an “uncontroversial” bill that reduces accountability for foreign fighters who abuse women and that showers literal gifts upon a secretive Drug War commission. But it’s not all bad news! There’s also a reason for hope. Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes CD161: Please Support Congressional Dish to contribute using credit card, debit card, PayPal, or Bitcoin to support Congressional Dish for each episode via Patreon Mail Contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North #4576 Crestview, FL 32536 Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Register for Bills : Continuing Appropriations Act, Department of Defense Missile Defeat and Defense Enhancements Appropriations Act, CHIP and Public Health Funding Extension Act, 2018 Extends 2017 funding levels until January 19, 2018 Delays the repeal of FISA warrantless spying authorities until January 19, 2018. Missile Defeat and Defense Enhancements Appropriates over $3.8 billion for emergency ballistic missile equipment and research. : Missile Construction Enhancements Appropriates $200 million, available until September 30, 2022 to construct an emergency missile field in Alaska General Provisions Clarifies that the money in this law for the Department of Defense will be in addition to the money it will be appropriated for 2018. For the extra money given to the military in this law, this section creates an exception that no new projects can be started with it. Clarifies that this money is being appropriated as an emergency requirement. : Health Provisions : Public Health Extenders Appropriates $550 million for community health centers and $65 million for the for the first half of 2018 Appropriates $37.5 million for a program for type I diabetes for the first half of 2018 : Cuts [the authorization for the Prevention and Public Health Fund](http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title:42%20section:300u-11%20edition:prelim) - 2019: Authorization decreases from $900 million to $800 million (was supposed to be $2 billion annually) - 2020 & 2021: Authorization decreases from $1 billion to $800 million - 2022: Authorization decreases from $1.5 billion to $1.25 billion. Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Appropriates $2.85 billion for the Children's Health Insurance Program through March 31, 2018, which is a cut from . : VA Choice Appropriates an additional $2.1 billion for the . Budgetary Effects The budgetary effects of the money for CHIP and VA Choice on the PAYGO scorecard will not be counted. : The effects of the tax bill (the "Reconciliation Act" authorized by ) will not be considered in the PAYGO budget. : Department of State Authorities Act, Fiscal Year 2017, Improvements Act : Orders a bunch of foreign policy related reports to be given to the Appropriations Committees in the House and the Senate. Changes the to remove the requirement for "swift and effective disciplinary action against" police or troops of UN countries who sexually exploit or abuse people during their peacekeeping missions. In it's place, the requirement will be that the countries will have to "appropriately hold accountable" their personnel, which is left undefined. Allows members of the Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission to "solicit, accept, use, and dispose of gifts, bequests, or devises of money, services, or property, both real and personal, for the purpose of carrying out any duty, power, or authority of the Commission." Additional Reading Article: by Mike DeBonis, The Washington Post, January 10, 2018. Article: by Reps. Eliot L. Engel and Matt Salmon, Huffington Post Report: by Marcus Weisgerber, Defense One, December 22, 2017. Report: by Justin Doubleday, Inside Defense, December 21, 2017. Article: by Leon Cook, Stars and Stripes, December 13, 2017. Article: from U.S. 7th Fleet Public Affairs, America's Navy, December 8, 2017. Article: by Larlsa Epatko, PBS, November 28, 2017. Article: by Tim Ellis, AlaskaPublic.org, November 14, 2017. Press Release: by Matt Shuckerow, DonYoung.house.gov, November 6, 2017. Report: , U.S. Governtment Accountability Office, October 13, 2017. Article: by Sean Kimmons, Department of Defense, October 11, 2017. Article: by Patrick Knox, The Sun, September 4, 2017. News Report: by Hudson Institute, PR Newswire, June 29, 2017. Article: by David Willman, The LA Times, February 26, 2017. Press Release: , Committee on Foreign Affairs, December 10, 2016. Article: by William D. Hartung, Mother Jones, July 30, 2016. Article: by David Willman, The LA Times, July 14, 2016. Article: by David William, The LA Times, July 6, 2017. Report: by Zach Berger, Missile Defense Advocacy, June 2017. Article: by Mary Bono, USA Today, March 6, 2017. Report: , U.S. Government Accountability Office, February 17, 2016. Article: by William Bennett and John P. Walters, Boston Globe, September 9, 2015 Report: by The Associated Press, Army Times, December 16, 2014. Article: by Roger A. Mola, Airspacemag.com, April 9, 2013. Resources Budget of the U.S. Government: Department of Defense: Department of Defense: Department of Defense: Department of the Navy: OpenSecrets.org: OpenSecrets.org: OpenSecrets.org: Twitter Post @JordanUhl: Visual References Boeing Co Stock Summary Sound Clip Sources Hearing: U.S. Defense Strategy in South Asia; House Committee on Armed Services; October 3, 2017 Witnesses: - Joseph F. Dunford Jr. - James N. Mattis 57:25 James Mattis: I think the most important thing is that we get budget predictability and certainty, because without that, we cannot take the—adjust our forces and get predictability into our budgets that permits us to gain the best bang for the buck, to put it bluntly. We’re going into the ninth year with a continuing resolution. As you know, I cannot make new starts under that, even if the cyber domain or the space domain require that we do new things we’ve not had to do before to maintain our competitive edge. Cover Art Design by Only Child Imaginations Music Presented in This Episode Intro & Exit: by (found on by mevio)