United We Stand, Divided We Fall

During the last US Debt Ceiling Approval, Congress began a useful process by agreeing that there would be no pay for any members of the US House or Senate if they did not pass a budget by April 15, 2013. This ‘No Budget, No Pay’ Act resulted in the House passing a budget on March 21, 2013 and the Senate on March 23, 2013. Given another pending Congressional Debt Ceiling Approval between September 2013 and December 2013, we would recommend a further process improvement. If there is no FY2014 budget approval by both Houses of Congress and signed by the President by September 30, 2013, pay checks for both Houses of Congress and the President and his cabinet will stop effective October 1, 2013. They will not start again until such steps are completed and only from that date forward. No catch up in pay will occur.
Further, since the major entitlement programs of Social Security Disability, Social Security Retirement, and Medicare are projected to be depleted as reported to Congress and the President in May 2013 by the Trustees of those Trust Funds, the Congress must enact and the President must sign reforms in those programs to ensure their future solvency by December 31, 2013. If this is not done, pay checks for both Houses of Congress and the President and his cabinet will stop effective January 1, 2014. They will not start again until such steps are completed and only from that date forward. No catch up in pay will occur.
For each subsequent year, the budget for the next fiscal year must be approved by both Houses of Congress and signed by the President on June 30 subsequent to the start of the fiscal year (i.e., for FY 2015, the budget must be approved and signed by June 30, 2014). If that is not completed, pay checks for both Houses of Congress and the President and his cabinet will stop effective July 1, the day after the deadline. They will not start again until such steps are completed and only from that date forward. No catch up in pay will occur.
Further, for each subsequent year, if the report from the Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds shows a depletion of Funds and an imbalance over the projected 75 year period, the Congress must enact and the President must sign reforms in those programs to ensure their future solvency by December 31 of that year. If this is not done, pay checks for both Houses of Congress and the President and his cabinet will stop effective January 1, the day after the missed deadline. These paychecks will not start again until such steps are completed and only from that date forward. No catch up in pay will occur.
The original proposal by Congress made sense. If you don’t do the job, you don’t get paid. That is true in every pursuit of life. It should also be so ‘in Washington D.C. where much of our economic future is being decided. This expanded proposal simply improves on the original ‘No Budget, No Pay’ Act as enacted by Congress and signed by the President.
Harry Pukay-Martin