For What It’s Worth—The House Budget Resolution

In 1966 the famous folk rock band Buffalo Springfield released to great acclaim its hit “For What It’s Worth.” The title words never appear in the song, and according to the story, Steven Stills presented the song to record producers saying, “I have this song here, for what it’s worth,” and that’s how the title of the song came about.

Last week, in almost no less flip a manner, the GOP-led House of Representatives passed a budget resolution that would seem to balance the budget by gutting domestic discretionary spending, boosting military spending, cutting taxes for the wealthiest and raising them for working Americans. In fact, the Ryan Budget Resolution cuts discretionary programs more deeply than the continuation of sequestration would, by a whopping $791 billion.

The White House blasted the proposal, claiming that under the House Budget Resolution more than 1.2 million people would lose access to job training services, in excess of 600,000 students would lose access to Pell Grants for college tuition and nearly 350,000 people would lose housing assistance. Further, for something like the 45th time that the House has done it, the budget proposes to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

However, the Ryan budget does not stand a chance of ever being considered in the Senate, much less passed. The current Murray-Ryan Budget deal that eased the sequester and allowed an additional $127 million for workforce programs remains intact. So, for what it’s worth, House members went on record for or against one of the most draconian budgets ever voted on—for what’s worth—which is not much.