The Rice Thresher, Vol. 98, No. 26, Ed. 1 Friday, April 15, 2011 Page: 3 of 24
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Baker Institute Student Forum debate: Budget debate lasts til deadline
Obama's budget a defining moment Viable budget takes bipartisanship
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GabeCuadra
For a few minutes, it looked like we might
have actually had a partial government shut
down last week.
But, thanks to some
last minute legislation,
a less sexy sequel to the
Clinton-Gingrich saga of
the mid "90s resulted.
But with Speaker of
the House Jim Boehner
promising the next bud-
get battle to be over trillions, not billions,
and the debt ceiling debate on the horizon,
it is clear that the decisive battles are still to
come.
President Obama's adeptness in the up-
coming political clashes with House Repub-
licans will be key to setting the stage for the
2012 election.
First, he must recognize and be ready to
exploit the chinks found this week in the
Republican armor. To begin with, this week
reiterated the fact that the Republicans face
difficulties keeping distracting special in-
terests out of legislation. This is simply one
of the challenges of writing legislation in a
435 member body. But it was on full display
last week when abortion made its way into
the budget negotiations. Anytime the pub-
lic feels that non-related issues are being
dragged in, it's advantage Obama.
Moreover, the Republican proposal in-
cludes cutting services for the poor and cut-
ting taxes for the wealthy, therefore provid-
ing a political target that will resonate with
independent voters. Whether their true goal
is smaller government overall or trying to
stimulate business, the Republicans will
lose support if they are seen as further deep-
ening the class divide.
Second, the President must counter with a
budget that balances appearing tough on the
debt, and also being more centrist than the
Republican Plan for Prosperity. Any serious
proposal should directly address Medicare,
Medicaid, and Social Security. While they
are politically charged issues, not address-
ing them will be construed
as weakness. The political
window is open for him to
work with Republicans to
mend these struggling en-
titlements.
His budget must also
balance spending cuts
with prudent investment.
In this economic climate, perception is po-
tent. The next government budget must be
seen not as a panicked downsize, but as a
trimming of excess that will encourage con-
sumer and business confidence.
And his budget should challenge the
Republicans on the Bush tax cuts. Even if
the tax cuts are put into place in some re-
duced form, it gives him a bargaining chip
and forces the GOP to take a firm stand
on whether lowering the debt is their
top priority.
Finally, the President must turn his pro-
growth rhetoric into tangible action.
The current power dynamics allow him to
tackle issues that he has touted, but couldn't
take on with a Democratic house. For two
years, he did pass some groundbreaking leg-
islation but had his image hurt by politics
within his party. Now having a foil will play
to his advantage.
So let's see a comprehensive tax reform.
Let's see tort reform. Let's see a reorganiza-
tion of government that saves money and
cuts down on red tape. It's the right thing
to do politically, and more importantly, the
right thing to do for our country.
Soon, the President will be challenged to
show the change he promised four years ago.
Now is the opportunity for him to show that
his leadership is worth believing in.
Gabe Cuadra is a
Will Rice College Junior.
Political capital is like the love of a beauti-
ful woman. With it you feel great and powerful
but one small misstep and
it is gone before you know
it. The recent budged show-
down demonstrated the vast
political capital that the 84
Republican freshmen have
in Congress. Many of these
new timers rode to Washing-
ton on a wave of grassroots
conservative Tea Party support and vowed to
cut government spending and adopt a strict
adherence to the Constitution. In negotiations
for the upcoming budget these freshmen ap-
plied pressure not only to the Democrats to cut
spending, but also to Republican Speaker of
the House John Boehner to play hardball when
negotiating with the Democratically controlled
Senate and White House. The result was over
$38 billion in spending and the beginning of
an unprecedented political climate where poli-
ticians are truly considering the hard choices
they must face to bring the budget in line.
While this is welcome news, these new
Republicans also demonstrated some un-
welcome characteristics. While fighting the
current fiscal irresponsibility is important,
some of the Republicans have demonstrat-
ed no willingness to compromise with their
democratic counterparts. If Capitol Hill is to
trim the budget, it must be made a biparti-
san issue. Secondly, the Republican House
attached riders to the bill that cut funding to
Planned Parenthood and public broadcast-
ing. These cuts had an almost negligible af-
fect fiscally, but ignited the always-latent
cultural wars on social issues. If Tea Party
members truly want to fix the problem of the
ballooning national debt, they can't fight and
argue polemic and extraneous battles that
have little to nothing to do with the economy.
The fight over this year's budget is sim-
ply the beginning of this year's battles over
the budget. Sen. Paul Ryan from Wisconsin
jt..
Anthony Lauriello
has outlined a "Path to Prosperity" that ad-
dresses the true problems of current govern-
ment spending, Medicare
and Medicaid. Another
admirable aspect is that it
simplifies our Byzantine
tax code. Unfortunately,
it also lowers taxes for
those with the highest
incomes in America. Rais-
ing government revenue
is as much a part of fiscal austerity as cut-
ting spending. By forcing America's most
vulnerable to shoulder all the burden of
our future difficult decisions, Ryan under-
mines his laudable argument for a fiscally
responsible government.
The only tax that should be reduced is our
insanely high corporate tax. The tax rate of
35 percent simply makes America uncompeti-
tive. Yet, this reduction in rates should come
with a drastic increase of enforcement and
loophole cutting. Currently, few corporations
pay the tax at all, the most salient of these
being General Electric, which paid no taxes
this year. By lowering the tax but forcing
companies to pay it, the government can in
fact increase revenue. This is one of the most
praiseworthy aspects of Mr. Ryan's plan.
On a final note, many of the Republicans
wish to make the raising of the debt ceiling
into a political fight. If we don't raise the ceil-
ing the government will default and p lunge
the world into a fiscal crisis that made the
credit crunch look appealing. Republicans
should adhere to the promises and provide
the fiscal austerity we nseed, but they should
do it by reaching across the aisle and work-
ing with the Democrats not holding the entire
country's economic health hostage.
Anthony Lauriello is a
Wiess College sophomore
and Backpage editor
The Baker Institute Student Forum is a student organization dedicated to fostering student involvement in publicy policy and current events. The BISF debate series is a periodical fea-
ture which allows for members of the Rice community to argue opposing sides of controversial, contemporary issues related to national politics and policy. The opinions contained in these
columns are neither endorsed by, nor do they neccesarily represent the views or opinions of the Thresher.
Annual Outdoor Show represents KTRU's relevance
Last weekend's annual Outdoor Show was
a complete success, and members of the Rice
community have only KTRU to thank for a full
day of engaging festivities and excellent music
that went off without a hitch. Having been in at-
tendance for previous on-campus concert flops,
KTRU was able to provide a completely new
and different experience by organizing an event
that centered on enjoying great music and dis-
covering new local bands - two of the station's
principle missions.
While president David Leebron constantly
stresses the need for Rice to connect with the
Houston community and become more active
"outside the hedges," KTRU did exactly that by
bringing in local bands and opening the event
to Houston residents. The crowd on Saturday
was not completely comprised of Rice students,
as mem- aaanHMaMM___--~~E-
bers of the
Houston
commu-
nity were
able to at- ,
tend and n 111
leave with ConnorHayes
a positive impression of wnat Rice students can
do when they commit themselves to something
they truly believe in.
When initial plans to co-host the event with
the Rice Program Council fell through, Out-
door Show directors and Baker College juniors
Austin Williams and Kieran Lyons took it upon
themselves to plan what ended up being the
most successful on-campus concert event in
recent memory. Instead of shelling out money
to musicians with minimal student interest and
even less relevance, KTRU included local acts
such as Fat Tony and the Ton Tons while also
providing the big-name draw of groups like
Mister Heavenly (with Michael Cera on bass)
and Washed Out. The mission was to bring in
bands that the average student might not have
heard of, but was sure to enjoy. Well, KTRU,
mission accomplished.
The sale of KTRU's FM frequency last August
certainly wasn't looked at as a step forward for
the station, yet the student leaders who have
stepped up for Rice radio in the past eight
months have transformed the group's mis-
sion to one that truly works to engage the Rice
, community. Rice students and affiliates owe
thanks to former and current station manag-
ers Lovett Junior Joey Yang Lovett junior and
Duncan senio Kevin Bush, as well as the rest
of the KTRU board of directors, for their hard
work and dedication to reshaping the sta-
tion's relevance while maintaining its histori-
cal identity.
Recent developments such as ticket give-
aways to students over KTRU's Facebook page,
the redesign of the station's website, a partner-
ship with KPFT for HD radio transmission and
the wildly successful Outdoor Show have all
been signs that KTRU is moving forward.
It is great to see that those involved at KTRU
weren't just interested in keeping the ship
afloat after the sale. Instead, they dedicated
themselves to improving their brand and ap-
pealing to the interests of Rice students. While
many of these developments quietly took place
without the grandeur of an all-day concert, the
Outdoor Show was a perfect opportunity to re-
flect on how far KTRU has come since that fate-
ful day last August.
I truly hope that in years to come more stu-
dents will be motivated to get involved with
KTRU and continue this trend toward student-
driven improvement. I am not and have not
been a part of KTRU whatsoever, partly be-
cause of time constraints and partly because
the job of a DJ was slightly different when I ar-
rived at Rice. Since then, however, things have
changed. Now, without the required graveyard
shifts for new DJs and heavy limitations on
library inclusions, the job has become much
more desirable.
Students with a passion for sharing great
music should reach out to KTRU and help make
Rice a bigger part of Houston's vast and growing
cultural scene. It seems that in the past KTRU
was more relevant outside the hedges than in.
With more active involvement from students
who truly care about making Rice radio matter,
why can't it be relevant to everyone?
Connor Hayes is a
Baker College senior
and Features editor
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Rutenberg, Josh. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 98, No. 26, Ed. 1 Friday, April 15, 2011, newspaper, April 15, 2011; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth398487/m1/3/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.