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Thank you for listening to Congressional Dish! 

Dec 6, 2015

Government shutdown ahead! On December 11th, the government is scheduled to run out of money. In this episode, hear the story of how we ended up on the brink of a shutdown (again) and what you can expect in the next few weeks (hint: A huge must-sign bill that includes lots of corporate favors).

We also take a look at the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, signed into law in November, which raised the debt ceiling and set the overall budget amount for the giant government funding bill to come.


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Bipartisan Budget Act Outline

H.R. 1314: The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015

Budget Enforcement

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Agriculture

For context, please listen to CD062: The Farm Bill

Commerce
Strategic Petroleum Reserve
  • Orders the sale of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
    • 5 million barrels a year through 2022
    • 8 million barrels in 2022
    • 10 million barrels a year from 2023 through 2025
Pensions
  • Increases pension fund premiums that employers must pay starting in 2017.
Health Care
  • Reduces 2016 premiums for Medicare Part B by adding a $3 surcharge for future years.
  • Charges drug manufacturers a rebate if they increase their prices for generic drugs more than the rate of inflation.
  • Starting on January 1, 2017, Medicare will pay the same rate for services provided in a hospital and services provided outside the hospital.
    • Facilities that were billing as hosptitals before the enactment of this law are exempt.
  • Repeals the automatic enrollment of employees in employer provided health insurance plans.
Judicial
Social Security
  • Expands "disability investigation units" with partner with local law enforcement to ensure they exist in all 50 states and all territories.
  • Increases penalties for social security fraud
  • Eliminates the "file and suspend" option for social security benefits
Temporary extension of public debt limit
  • Suspends the debt ceiling until March 16, 2017.
Spectrum Pipeline
  • Creates a plan for auctioning federal wireless spectrum to telecommunications corporations by January 2022.
Revenue provisions related to tax compliance

Audio Sources


Additional Reading


Sources


Jen's Podcast Appearance

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Music Presented in This Episode


Cover Art

Design by Only Child Imaginations

OCI