CDZ Congress' job is to pass a budget -- appropriations and continuing resolutions

[usmbguest5318]

Government shutdowns are a periodicity matters, not lack money matters. Why is that so? Because even if Congress were, say in its last continuing resolution, to have explicitly stated that there was no limit on the amount of spending/borrowing the executive or judicial branch departments, agencies, bureaus, etc., we'd still be in a shutdown situation because Congress grants spending/borrowing authority for a fixed period of time. Quite simply, money executive and judicial branch entities can have at the money in the world, but when the appropriation that provided that money expires, they can't spend it because they no longer have authorization to spend it.

One of Congress' primary duties is to pass a budget legislation. Such legislation is called an appropriation, and what an appropriation is is the authority to spend/borrow money. Congress is the only branch of government that can authorize that money be spent/borrowed. Though the Constitution's Appropriation and Statements of Account clause (Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7) does not stipulate the time period an appropriation must cover, the principles of sound management call Congress to appropriate spending authority for long enough periods that the executive branch can obtain the goods and services it needs to do its job. The absence of such a stipulation is why Congress passes continuing resolutions (CRs).

What's the difference between a budget appropriation and a CR? Well, first of all, appropriations are spending authority; they define a sum of money that can be spent/borrowed, the period of time during which that authority is valid, and who is authorized to spend/borrow various sums of money. Thus a CR is a type of appropriation, and in fact, there are three types of appropriations (appropriation bills):

Regular appropriations bills provide most of the funding that is provided in all appropriations measures for a fiscal year and must be enacted by October 1, the beginning of the fiscal year. If regular bills are not enacted by the beginning of the new fiscal year, Congress adopts continuing resolutions to continue funding, generally until regular bills are enacted. Supplemental appropriations bills provide additional appropriations to become available during a fiscal year.
(Source)​

For all the "who struck John" about the current government shutdown, the inescapable fact of the matter is that the root reason the government has shutdown is because the members of the 115th Congress have shirked their duty to pass a regular appropriations bill.

The lack of a regular appropriation isn't egregiously problematic for all units and activities of the executive branch, and only rarely is it so for the judicial branch.Some activities of the government can simply pick up where they left off with little impact other than delays the costs associated with delays.

That said, activities that cannot be performed and paid for in the period covered by a CR simply cannot commence. What kind of activities fall into that realm? All sorts of them...purchases of military hardware and other capital property (fixed assets, in accounting parlance) purchases regardless of whether it's military or not, governmental process improvement initiatives, intelligence gathering equipment, upgrade and maintenance contracts, and more. The simple fact is that for a number of things the government must purchase, the most efficient (cost and process wise) and effective way to do so is via multi-year contracts.

Quite simply, certain entities of the government cannot, given the short term nature of CRs, contract to obtain the goods/services they need. They cannot because they don't know whether, upon the CR's expiration, Congress will authorize the spending authority needed to complete the project. Insofar as such long term endeavors cost tens and more millions of dollars and the government has a fiduciary duty not to assume undue risk, government managers can't very well start an initiative, pay several million or many millions on a few weeks/months worth of it, only to later find out the project has to be cancelled because Congress' next CR didn't include authorization funding the initiative's continuance.

Key Observations Regarding the Appropriations Process:

• How many FY 2018 regular appropriations bills have the 115th Congress passed? None.
  
  Ever since their being seated in January 2017, they passed one omnibus bill to get through the remainder of FY 2017. For FY 2018, they had from January 2017 to Sept 30, 2017 to pass a regular appropriations bill for FY 2018, and they didn't pass one. Because they have yet to pass a FY 2018 regular appropriation.
• While there is much about the appropriations process that is political, there is nothing political about the fact that one of Congress' duties to to pass a budget bill that enables efficient operation of the government. To fulfill that duty, Congress must pass a regular appropriations bill, not a litany of CRs.
• To get a budget bill passed, like it or not, the majority party must compromise enough so enough of the minority party's members will vote for it. Devising those compromises is also part of Congress' duty because, like it or not, the U.S. government not a parliamentary one.

 

[longknife]

All well and good. The House has passed required budgets for years. It's the DemocRATs in the Senate who have refused to do so for more than 7 years!

 

[usmbguest5318]

All well and good. The House has passed required budgets for years. It's the DemocRATs in the Senate who have refused to do so for more than 7 years!

Please refrain posting in my threads when you haven't confirmed the factual and contextual veracity of the remarks you intend to make, or, if you refuse to confirm your remarks' veracity, at least bother to note in some way that you are unsure about or have not confirmed their accuracy.

• The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (Titles I-IX of P.L. 93-344, 2 U.S.C. 601- 688) established the congressional budget process. Among other things, the POTUS is required by law to, on or before the first Monday in February, submit a budget to Congress. (IIRC, Donald Trump did not submit his budget until, IIRC, the ides of March 2017 or near it.)
• The Senate has passed an omnibus appropriations bill or a regular appropriation bills for each of the past 7 years. Anyone who makes even the most cursory effort to determine whether that's so can see as much.
• While the WH submits a budget to Congress, its doing so is merely a starting point. Congress, at its discretion modifies the budget the POTUS submits to them.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The FY 2018 appropriations process in the House and Senate and the applicable customs, rules and procedures to which it is subject is the same one that's been in place for the past seven years. Everyone involved involved in the appropriations process was aware of that being so well before January 2017. Consequently, the people charged with orchestrating the FY 2018 appropriations process knew they had to negotiate, collaborate, give and take in exactly the same ways their predecessors did to pass the appropriations bills they did from 2010 to 2017.

 

[evenflow1969]

Government shutdowns are a periodicity matters, not lack money matters. Why is that so? Because even if Congress were, say in its last continuing resolution, to have explicitly stated that there was no limit on the amount of spending/borrowing the executive or judicial branch departments, agencies, bureaus, etc., we'd still be in a shutdown situation because Congress grants spending/borrowing authority for a fixed period of time. Quite simply, money executive and judicial branch entities can have at the money in the world, but when the appropriation that provided that money expires, they can't spend it because they no longer have authorization to spend it.

One of Congress' primary duties is to pass a budget legislation. Such legislation is called an appropriation, and what an appropriation is is the authority to spend/borrow money. Congress is the only branch of government that can authorize that money be spent/borrowed. Though the Constitution's Appropriation and Statements of Account clause (Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7) does not stipulate the time period an appropriation must cover, the principles of sound management call Congress to appropriate spending authority for long enough periods that the executive branch can obtain the goods and services it needs to do its job. The absence of such a stipulation is why Congress passes continuing resolutions (CRs).

What's the difference between a budget appropriation and a CR? Well, first of all, appropriations are spending authority; they define a sum of money that can be spent/borrowed, the period of time during which that authority is valid, and who is authorized to spend/borrow various sums of money. Thus a CR is a type of appropriation, and in fact, there are three types of appropriations (appropriation bills):

Regular appropriations bills provide most of the funding that is provided in all appropriations measures for a fiscal year and must be enacted by October 1, the beginning of the fiscal year. If regular bills are not enacted by the beginning of the new fiscal year, Congress adopts continuing resolutions to continue funding, generally until regular bills are enacted. Supplemental appropriations bills provide additional appropriations to become available during a fiscal year.
(Source)​

For all the "who struck John" about the current government shutdown, the inescapable fact of the matter is that the root reason the government has shutdown is because the members of the 115th Congress have shirked their duty to pass a regular appropriations bill.

The lack of a regular appropriation isn't egregiously problematic for all units and activities of the executive branch, and only rarely is it so for the judicial branch.Some activities of the government can simply pick up where they left off with little impact other than delays the costs associated with delays.

That said, activities that cannot be performed and paid for in the period covered by a CR simply cannot commence. What kind of activities fall into that realm? All sorts of them...purchases of military hardware and other capital property (fixed assets, in accounting parlance) purchases regardless of whether it's military or not, governmental process improvement initiatives, intelligence gathering equipment, upgrade and maintenance contracts, and more. The simple fact is that for a number of things the government must purchase, the most efficient (cost and process wise) and effective way to do so is via multi-year contracts.

Quite simply, certain entities of the government cannot, given the short term nature of CRs, contract to obtain the goods/services they need. They cannot because they don't know whether, upon the CR's expiration, Congress will authorize the spending authority needed to complete the project. Insofar as such long term endeavors cost tens and more millions of dollars and the government has a fiduciary duty not to assume undue risk, government managers can't very well start an initiative, pay several million or many millions on a few weeks/months worth of it, only to later find out the project has to be cancelled because Congress' next CR didn't include authorization funding the initiative's continuance.

Key Observations Regarding the Appropriations Process:

• How many FY 2018 regular appropriations bills have the 115th Congress passed? None.
  
  Ever since their being seated in January 2017, they passed one omnibus bill to get through the remainder of FY 2017. For FY 2018, they had from January 2017 to Sept 30, 2017 to pass a regular appropriations bill for FY 2018, and they didn't pass one. Because they have yet to pass a FY 2018 regular appropriation.
• While there is much about the appropriations process that is political, there is nothing political about the fact that one of Congress' duties to to pass a budget bill that enables efficient operation of the government. To fulfill that duty, Congress must pass a regular appropriations bill, not a litany of CRs.
• To get a budget bill passed, like it or not, the majority party must compromise enough so enough of the minority party's members will vote for it. Devising those compromises is also part of Congress' duty because, like it or not, the U.S. government not a parliamentary one.

You are a bright person Xelor. The problem is that you are over the head of most of these posters. I am sure you have already realized this! Try dumbing it down a little, so more of them can understand. This should be a busy thread. You are absolutley right, this shut down is not the real story, the lack of congress doing their job is the real story! They have not done their jobs since 2009. We need the populace to understand this soon!

 

[usmbguest5318]

You are a bright person Xelor.

Thank you.

 

[usmbguest5318]

Government shutdowns are a periodicity matters, not lack money matters. Why is that so? Because even if Congress were, say in its last continuing resolution, to have explicitly stated that there was no limit on the amount of spending/borrowing the executive or judicial branch departments, agencies, bureaus, etc., we'd still be in a shutdown situation because Congress grants spending/borrowing authority for a fixed period of time. Quite simply, money executive and judicial branch entities can have at the money in the world, but when the appropriation that provided that money expires, they can't spend it because they no longer have authorization to spend it.

One of Congress' primary duties is to pass a budget legislation. Such legislation is called an appropriation, and what an appropriation is is the authority to spend/borrow money. Congress is the only branch of government that can authorize that money be spent/borrowed. Though the Constitution's Appropriation and Statements of Account clause (Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7) does not stipulate the time period an appropriation must cover, the principles of sound management call Congress to appropriate spending authority for long enough periods that the executive branch can obtain the goods and services it needs to do its job. The absence of such a stipulation is why Congress passes continuing resolutions (CRs).

What's the difference between a budget appropriation and a CR? Well, first of all, appropriations are spending authority; they define a sum of money that can be spent/borrowed, the period of time during which that authority is valid, and who is authorized to spend/borrow various sums of money. Thus a CR is a type of appropriation, and in fact, there are three types of appropriations (appropriation bills):

Regular appropriations bills provide most of the funding that is provided in all appropriations measures for a fiscal year and must be enacted by October 1, the beginning of the fiscal year. If regular bills are not enacted by the beginning of the new fiscal year, Congress adopts continuing resolutions to continue funding, generally until regular bills are enacted. Supplemental appropriations bills provide additional appropriations to become available during a fiscal year.
(Source)​

For all the "who struck John" about the current government shutdown, the inescapable fact of the matter is that the root reason the government has shutdown is because the members of the 115th Congress have shirked their duty to pass a regular appropriations bill.

The lack of a regular appropriation isn't egregiously problematic for all units and activities of the executive branch, and only rarely is it so for the judicial branch.Some activities of the government can simply pick up where they left off with little impact other than delays the costs associated with delays.

That said, activities that cannot be performed and paid for in the period covered by a CR simply cannot commence. What kind of activities fall into that realm? All sorts of them...purchases of military hardware and other capital property (fixed assets, in accounting parlance) purchases regardless of whether it's military or not, governmental process improvement initiatives, intelligence gathering equipment, upgrade and maintenance contracts, and more. The simple fact is that for a number of things the government must purchase, the most efficient (cost and process wise) and effective way to do so is via multi-year contracts.

Quite simply, certain entities of the government cannot, given the short term nature of CRs, contract to obtain the goods/services they need. They cannot because they don't know whether, upon the CR's expiration, Congress will authorize the spending authority needed to complete the project. Insofar as such long term endeavors cost tens and more millions of dollars and the government has a fiduciary duty not to assume undue risk, government managers can't very well start an initiative, pay several million or many millions on a few weeks/months worth of it, only to later find out the project has to be cancelled because Congress' next CR didn't include authorization funding the initiative's continuance.

Key Observations Regarding the Appropriations Process:

• How many FY 2018 regular appropriations bills have the 115th Congress passed? None.
  
  Ever since their being seated in January 2017, they passed one omnibus bill to get through the remainder of FY 2017. For FY 2018, they had from January 2017 to Sept 30, 2017 to pass a regular appropriations bill for FY 2018, and they didn't pass one. Because they have yet to pass a FY 2018 regular appropriation.
• While there is much about the appropriations process that is political, there is nothing political about the fact that one of Congress' duties to to pass a budget bill that enables efficient operation of the government. To fulfill that duty, Congress must pass a regular appropriations bill, not a litany of CRs.
• To get a budget bill passed, like it or not, the majority party must compromise enough so enough of the minority party's members will vote for it. Devising those compromises is also part of Congress' duty because, like it or not, the U.S. government not a parliamentary one.

You are a bright person Xelor. The problem is that you are over the head of most of these posters. I am sure you have already realized this! Try dumbing it down a little, so more of them can understand. This should be a busy thread. You are absolutley right, this shut down is not the real story, the lack of congress doing their job is the real story! They have not done their jobs since 2009. We need the populace to understand this soon!

You are absolutley right, this shut down is not the real story, the lack of congress doing their job is the real story! They have not done their jobs since 2009.

To the extent the emboldened text refers to Congress' passage of regular or omnibus appropriations bills, I don't know whether that's so or not because I didn't check the fiscal years prior to 2010. I didn't check because the temporal scope of my remarks in post 3 are, by dint of the other member's comment to which post 3 is my reply, is limited to the past seven years.

 

[usmbguest5318]

Try dumbing it down a little, so more of them can understand. This should be a busy thread.

OT:

Okay, "I'll bite," as it were. What exactly in my OP strikes you as something that, were it "dumbed down," would be sufficiently more comprehensible that the thread would thus become "busy?"

In answering, I'd ask that you keep in mind the following remarks I posted elsewhere:

Rant:
I get chided here for writing longish posts. The fact of the matter is that when I write short well considered ones such as I did when presenting my initial observations about this matter of calling for the release of Nunes' memo, my remarks are met with all sorts of "stupid sh*t" objections rather than with members inclined to objecting bothering to confirm the veracity, probativity and plausibility of their basis(-es) for objecting. (And, no, my feelings aren't "hurt" by their doing so for if it happens enough, I'll ignore the member and having now awareness of their remarks, spend no time responding to them.)

If one makes a brief conclusive comment or summary level set of conclusive comments borne of due consideration, folks try to poke holes in it due to its brevity. If one makes a relatively comprehensive comment that includes one's brief conclusion(s) and the points one considered in arriving at it, people attack the length of the post, or me for having posted a longish set of remarks. That's no way to have a mature discussion.

And, no, I'm not of a mind to describe your comments to me in this discussion as "stupid sh*t." It's clear to me that you did read the document to which I linked and you did directly address the voting aspect of the matter by pointing out a scenario in which voting by the House Intel Cmte. might be required to release the memo.

 

[Circe]

Well, if the point of this thread is that Congress is simply not doing its job, I certainly agree, and it's really only been since the Carter admin: I can remember the first hung budget, and it was a huge scandal. Now we are so used to these failures of budget votes that we scoff at it. But I think it's a bad sign that the government is so polarized that it is actually failing.

At least this thread is clean. I went to one here on this topic -- Siete? where it was almost totally obscenity posting. Just obscenities after obscenities. I put that guy on ignore and fled the thread.

 

[evenflow1969]

Well, if the point of this thread is that Congress is simply not doing its job, I certainly agree, and it's really only been since the Carter admin: I can remember the first hung budget, and it was a huge scandal. Now we are so used to these failures of budget votes that we scoff at it. But I think it's a bad sign that the government is so polarized that it is actually failing.

At least this thread is clean. I went to one here on this topic -- Siete? where it was almost totally obscenity posting. Just obscenities after obscenities. I put that guy on ignore and fled the thread.

Yes, maybe we are better off not attracting the loons! I guess I could argue that we are also n ot getting the attention or awareness of the readers. How ever, from what I have seen when you do get the attention of the others it turns into nothing but an I am rubber you are glue contest. I guess it boils down to, I just have no real idea how to get things back on a normal footing. A footing where people try to solve real problems instead of just a blame game.

 

[danielpalos]

Government shutdowns are a periodicity matters, not lack money matters. Why is that so? Because even if Congress were, say in its last continuing resolution, to have explicitly stated that there was no limit on the amount of spending/borrowing the executive or judicial branch departments, agencies, bureaus, etc., we'd still be in a shutdown situation because Congress grants spending/borrowing authority for a fixed period of time. Quite simply, money executive and judicial branch entities can have at the money in the world, but when the appropriation that provided that money expires, they can't spend it because they no longer have authorization to spend it.

One of Congress' primary duties is to pass a budget legislation. Such legislation is called an appropriation, and what an appropriation is is the authority to spend/borrow money. Congress is the only branch of government that can authorize that money be spent/borrowed. Though the Constitution's Appropriation and Statements of Account clause (Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7) does not stipulate the time period an appropriation must cover, the principles of sound management call Congress to appropriate spending authority for long enough periods that the executive branch can obtain the goods and services it needs to do its job. The absence of such a stipulation is why Congress passes continuing resolutions (CRs).

What's the difference between a budget appropriation and a CR? Well, first of all, appropriations are spending authority; they define a sum of money that can be spent/borrowed, the period of time during which that authority is valid, and who is authorized to spend/borrow various sums of money. Thus a CR is a type of appropriation, and in fact, there are three types of appropriations (appropriation bills):

Regular appropriations bills provide most of the funding that is provided in all appropriations measures for a fiscal year and must be enacted by October 1, the beginning of the fiscal year. If regular bills are not enacted by the beginning of the new fiscal year, Congress adopts continuing resolutions to continue funding, generally until regular bills are enacted. Supplemental appropriations bills provide additional appropriations to become available during a fiscal year.
(Source)​

For all the "who struck John" about the current government shutdown, the inescapable fact of the matter is that the root reason the government has shutdown is because the members of the 115th Congress have shirked their duty to pass a regular appropriations bill.

The lack of a regular appropriation isn't egregiously problematic for all units and activities of the executive branch, and only rarely is it so for the judicial branch.Some activities of the government can simply pick up where they left off with little impact other than delays the costs associated with delays.

That said, activities that cannot be performed and paid for in the period covered by a CR simply cannot commence. What kind of activities fall into that realm? All sorts of them...purchases of military hardware and other capital property (fixed assets, in accounting parlance) purchases regardless of whether it's military or not, governmental process improvement initiatives, intelligence gathering equipment, upgrade and maintenance contracts, and more. The simple fact is that for a number of things the government must purchase, the most efficient (cost and process wise) and effective way to do so is via multi-year contracts.

Quite simply, certain entities of the government cannot, given the short term nature of CRs, contract to obtain the goods/services they need. They cannot because they don't know whether, upon the CR's expiration, Congress will authorize the spending authority needed to complete the project. Insofar as such long term endeavors cost tens and more millions of dollars and the government has a fiduciary duty not to assume undue risk, government managers can't very well start an initiative, pay several million or many millions on a few weeks/months worth of it, only to later find out the project has to be cancelled because Congress' next CR didn't include authorization funding the initiative's continuance.

Key Observations Regarding the Appropriations Process:

• How many FY 2018 regular appropriations bills have the 115th Congress passed? None.
  
  Ever since their being seated in January 2017, they passed one omnibus bill to get through the remainder of FY 2017. For FY 2018, they had from January 2017 to Sept 30, 2017 to pass a regular appropriations bill for FY 2018, and they didn't pass one. Because they have yet to pass a FY 2018 regular appropriation.
• While there is much about the appropriations process that is political, there is nothing political about the fact that one of Congress' duties to to pass a budget bill that enables efficient operation of the government. To fulfill that duty, Congress must pass a regular appropriations bill, not a litany of CRs.
• To get a budget bill passed, like it or not, the majority party must compromise enough so enough of the minority party's members will vote for it. Devising those compromises is also part of Congress' duty because, like it or not, the U.S. government not a parliamentary one.

The right wing was able to cut taxes but not fund Government?

 

[Circe]

Yes, maybe we are better off not attracting the loons! I guess I could argue that we are also n ot getting the attention or awareness of the readers. How ever, from what I have seen when you do get the attention of the others it turns into nothing but an I am rubber you are glue contest. I guess it boils down to, I just have no real idea how to get things back on a normal footing. A footing where people try to solve real problems instead of just a blame game.

Right. I have been on forums forever, and they used to be very different, where people actually discussed issues and didn't spew filth. Now obscenities are the norm and little real discussion occurs. I think this is quite a bad sign for the nation, very much like the 1850s vituperation and real terrorism funding by prominent citizens (Emerson contributed to John Brown!) -- that led to the Civil War. It's never been like this in my lifetime, not even during Vietnam was it this bad. The inability of Congress to actually pass a budget or appoint judges or really do much of anything at all is a very bad sign, and it's getting worse, if anything.

 

[usmbguest5318]

Government shutdowns are a periodicity matters, not lack money matters. Why is that so? Because even if Congress were, say in its last continuing resolution, to have explicitly stated that there was no limit on the amount of spending/borrowing the executive or judicial branch departments, agencies, bureaus, etc., we'd still be in a shutdown situation because Congress grants spending/borrowing authority for a fixed period of time. Quite simply, money executive and judicial branch entities can have at the money in the world, but when the appropriation that provided that money expires, they can't spend it because they no longer have authorization to spend it.

One of Congress' primary duties is to pass a budget legislation. Such legislation is called an appropriation, and what an appropriation is is the authority to spend/borrow money. Congress is the only branch of government that can authorize that money be spent/borrowed. Though the Constitution's Appropriation and Statements of Account clause (Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7) does not stipulate the time period an appropriation must cover, the principles of sound management call Congress to appropriate spending authority for long enough periods that the executive branch can obtain the goods and services it needs to do its job. The absence of such a stipulation is why Congress passes continuing resolutions (CRs).

What's the difference between a budget appropriation and a CR? Well, first of all, appropriations are spending authority; they define a sum of money that can be spent/borrowed, the period of time during which that authority is valid, and who is authorized to spend/borrow various sums of money. Thus a CR is a type of appropriation, and in fact, there are three types of appropriations (appropriation bills):

Regular appropriations bills provide most of the funding that is provided in all appropriations measures for a fiscal year and must be enacted by October 1, the beginning of the fiscal year. If regular bills are not enacted by the beginning of the new fiscal year, Congress adopts continuing resolutions to continue funding, generally until regular bills are enacted. Supplemental appropriations bills provide additional appropriations to become available during a fiscal year.
(Source)​

For all the "who struck John" about the current government shutdown, the inescapable fact of the matter is that the root reason the government has shutdown is because the members of the 115th Congress have shirked their duty to pass a regular appropriations bill.

The lack of a regular appropriation isn't egregiously problematic for all units and activities of the executive branch, and only rarely is it so for the judicial branch.Some activities of the government can simply pick up where they left off with little impact other than delays the costs associated with delays.

That said, activities that cannot be performed and paid for in the period covered by a CR simply cannot commence. What kind of activities fall into that realm? All sorts of them...purchases of military hardware and other capital property (fixed assets, in accounting parlance) purchases regardless of whether it's military or not, governmental process improvement initiatives, intelligence gathering equipment, upgrade and maintenance contracts, and more. The simple fact is that for a number of things the government must purchase, the most efficient (cost and process wise) and effective way to do so is via multi-year contracts.

Quite simply, certain entities of the government cannot, given the short term nature of CRs, contract to obtain the goods/services they need. They cannot because they don't know whether, upon the CR's expiration, Congress will authorize the spending authority needed to complete the project. Insofar as such long term endeavors cost tens and more millions of dollars and the government has a fiduciary duty not to assume undue risk, government managers can't very well start an initiative, pay several million or many millions on a few weeks/months worth of it, only to later find out the project has to be cancelled because Congress' next CR didn't include authorization funding the initiative's continuance.

Key Observations Regarding the Appropriations Process:

• How many FY 2018 regular appropriations bills have the 115th Congress passed? None.
  
  Ever since their being seated in January 2017, they passed one omnibus bill to get through the remainder of FY 2017. For FY 2018, they had from January 2017 to Sept 30, 2017 to pass a regular appropriations bill for FY 2018, and they didn't pass one. Because they have yet to pass a FY 2018 regular appropriation.
• While there is much about the appropriations process that is political, there is nothing political about the fact that one of Congress' duties to to pass a budget bill that enables efficient operation of the government. To fulfill that duty, Congress must pass a regular appropriations bill, not a litany of CRs.
• To get a budget bill passed, like it or not, the majority party must compromise enough so enough of the minority party's members will vote for it. Devising those compromises is also part of Congress' duty because, like it or not, the U.S. government not a parliamentary one.

The right wing was able to cut taxes but not fund Government?

Up to today and with regard to FY 2018, that's the case. I really can't say whether the 115th Congress will ever pass a regular or omnibus appropriations bill.

One thing to note is that passing a "proper" appropriations bill isn't something that one political wing/side can alone do, nor should it be because taxpayers come from both parties, and one should not have to see one's taxes go to fund no major issue about which one cares.

 

[evenflow1969]

Government shutdowns are a periodicity matters, not lack money matters. Why is that so? Because even if Congress were, say in its last continuing resolution, to have explicitly stated that there was no limit on the amount of spending/borrowing the executive or judicial branch departments, agencies, bureaus, etc., we'd still be in a shutdown situation because Congress grants spending/borrowing authority for a fixed period of time. Quite simply, money executive and judicial branch entities can have at the money in the world, but when the appropriation that provided that money expires, they can't spend it because they no longer have authorization to spend it.

One of Congress' primary duties is to pass a budget legislation. Such legislation is called an appropriation, and what an appropriation is is the authority to spend/borrow money. Congress is the only branch of government that can authorize that money be spent/borrowed. Though the Constitution's Appropriation and Statements of Account clause (Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7) does not stipulate the time period an appropriation must cover, the principles of sound management call Congress to appropriate spending authority for long enough periods that the executive branch can obtain the goods and services it needs to do its job. The absence of such a stipulation is why Congress passes continuing resolutions (CRs).

What's the difference between a budget appropriation and a CR? Well, first of all, appropriations are spending authority; they define a sum of money that can be spent/borrowed, the period of time during which that authority is valid, and who is authorized to spend/borrow various sums of money. Thus a CR is a type of appropriation, and in fact, there are three types of appropriations (appropriation bills):

Regular appropriations bills provide most of the funding that is provided in all appropriations measures for a fiscal year and must be enacted by October 1, the beginning of the fiscal year. If regular bills are not enacted by the beginning of the new fiscal year, Congress adopts continuing resolutions to continue funding, generally until regular bills are enacted. Supplemental appropriations bills provide additional appropriations to become available during a fiscal year.
(Source)​

For all the "who struck John" about the current government shutdown, the inescapable fact of the matter is that the root reason the government has shutdown is because the members of the 115th Congress have shirked their duty to pass a regular appropriations bill.

The lack of a regular appropriation isn't egregiously problematic for all units and activities of the executive branch, and only rarely is it so for the judicial branch.Some activities of the government can simply pick up where they left off with little impact other than delays the costs associated with delays.

That said, activities that cannot be performed and paid for in the period covered by a CR simply cannot commence. What kind of activities fall into that realm? All sorts of them...purchases of military hardware and other capital property (fixed assets, in accounting parlance) purchases regardless of whether it's military or not, governmental process improvement initiatives, intelligence gathering equipment, upgrade and maintenance contracts, and more. The simple fact is that for a number of things the government must purchase, the most efficient (cost and process wise) and effective way to do so is via multi-year contracts.

Quite simply, certain entities of the government cannot, given the short term nature of CRs, contract to obtain the goods/services they need. They cannot because they don't know whether, upon the CR's expiration, Congress will authorize the spending authority needed to complete the project. Insofar as such long term endeavors cost tens and more millions of dollars and the government has a fiduciary duty not to assume undue risk, government managers can't very well start an initiative, pay several million or many millions on a few weeks/months worth of it, only to later find out the project has to be cancelled because Congress' next CR didn't include authorization funding the initiative's continuance.

Key Observations Regarding the Appropriations Process:

• How many FY 2018 regular appropriations bills have the 115th Congress passed? None.
  
  Ever since their being seated in January 2017, they passed one omnibus bill to get through the remainder of FY 2017. For FY 2018, they had from January 2017 to Sept 30, 2017 to pass a regular appropriations bill for FY 2018, and they didn't pass one. Because they have yet to pass a FY 2018 regular appropriation.
• While there is much about the appropriations process that is political, there is nothing political about the fact that one of Congress' duties to to pass a budget bill that enables efficient operation of the government. To fulfill that duty, Congress must pass a regular appropriations bill, not a litany of CRs.
• To get a budget bill passed, like it or not, the majority party must compromise enough so enough of the minority party's members will vote for it. Devising those compromises is also part of Congress' duty because, like it or not, the U.S. government not a parliamentary one.

The right wing was able to cut taxes but not fund Government?

Up to today, yes. I really can't say whether the 115th Congress will ever pass a regular or omnibus appropriations bill.

Unless we start sending a clear message that we expect them to do their job or lose it, I highly doubt it!

 

[danielpalos]

Government shutdowns are a periodicity matters, not lack money matters. Why is that so? Because even if Congress were, say in its last continuing resolution, to have explicitly stated that there was no limit on the amount of spending/borrowing the executive or judicial branch departments, agencies, bureaus, etc., we'd still be in a shutdown situation because Congress grants spending/borrowing authority for a fixed period of time. Quite simply, money executive and judicial branch entities can have at the money in the world, but when the appropriation that provided that money expires, they can't spend it because they no longer have authorization to spend it.

One of Congress' primary duties is to pass a budget legislation. Such legislation is called an appropriation, and what an appropriation is is the authority to spend/borrow money. Congress is the only branch of government that can authorize that money be spent/borrowed. Though the Constitution's Appropriation and Statements of Account clause (Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7) does not stipulate the time period an appropriation must cover, the principles of sound management call Congress to appropriate spending authority for long enough periods that the executive branch can obtain the goods and services it needs to do its job. The absence of such a stipulation is why Congress passes continuing resolutions (CRs).

What's the difference between a budget appropriation and a CR? Well, first of all, appropriations are spending authority; they define a sum of money that can be spent/borrowed, the period of time during which that authority is valid, and who is authorized to spend/borrow various sums of money. Thus a CR is a type of appropriation, and in fact, there are three types of appropriations (appropriation bills):

Regular appropriations bills provide most of the funding that is provided in all appropriations measures for a fiscal year and must be enacted by October 1, the beginning of the fiscal year. If regular bills are not enacted by the beginning of the new fiscal year, Congress adopts continuing resolutions to continue funding, generally until regular bills are enacted. Supplemental appropriations bills provide additional appropriations to become available during a fiscal year.
(Source)​

For all the "who struck John" about the current government shutdown, the inescapable fact of the matter is that the root reason the government has shutdown is because the members of the 115th Congress have shirked their duty to pass a regular appropriations bill.

The lack of a regular appropriation isn't egregiously problematic for all units and activities of the executive branch, and only rarely is it so for the judicial branch.Some activities of the government can simply pick up where they left off with little impact other than delays the costs associated with delays.

That said, activities that cannot be performed and paid for in the period covered by a CR simply cannot commence. What kind of activities fall into that realm? All sorts of them...purchases of military hardware and other capital property (fixed assets, in accounting parlance) purchases regardless of whether it's military or not, governmental process improvement initiatives, intelligence gathering equipment, upgrade and maintenance contracts, and more. The simple fact is that for a number of things the government must purchase, the most efficient (cost and process wise) and effective way to do so is via multi-year contracts.

Quite simply, certain entities of the government cannot, given the short term nature of CRs, contract to obtain the goods/services they need. They cannot because they don't know whether, upon the CR's expiration, Congress will authorize the spending authority needed to complete the project. Insofar as such long term endeavors cost tens and more millions of dollars and the government has a fiduciary duty not to assume undue risk, government managers can't very well start an initiative, pay several million or many millions on a few weeks/months worth of it, only to later find out the project has to be cancelled because Congress' next CR didn't include authorization funding the initiative's continuance.

Key Observations Regarding the Appropriations Process:

• How many FY 2018 regular appropriations bills have the 115th Congress passed? None.
  
  Ever since their being seated in January 2017, they passed one omnibus bill to get through the remainder of FY 2017. For FY 2018, they had from January 2017 to Sept 30, 2017 to pass a regular appropriations bill for FY 2018, and they didn't pass one. Because they have yet to pass a FY 2018 regular appropriation.
• While there is much about the appropriations process that is political, there is nothing political about the fact that one of Congress' duties to to pass a budget bill that enables efficient operation of the government. To fulfill that duty, Congress must pass a regular appropriations bill, not a litany of CRs.
• To get a budget bill passed, like it or not, the majority party must compromise enough so enough of the minority party's members will vote for it. Devising those compromises is also part of Congress' duty because, like it or not, the U.S. government not a parliamentary one.

The right wing was able to cut taxes but not fund Government?

Up to today and with regard to FY 2018, that's the case. I really can't say whether the 115th Congress will ever pass a regular or omnibus appropriations bill.

One thing to note is that passing a "proper" appropriations bill isn't something that one political wing/side can alone do, nor should it be because taxpayers come from both parties, and one should not have to see one's taxes go to fund no major issue about which one cares.

the right wing believes we can lower taxes to decrease the size of government; lets end our alleged wars on crime, drugs, and terror to balance the budget.

 

[usmbguest5318]

Government shutdowns are a periodicity matters, not lack money matters. Why is that so? Because even if Congress were, say in its last continuing resolution, to have explicitly stated that there was no limit on the amount of spending/borrowing the executive or judicial branch departments, agencies, bureaus, etc., we'd still be in a shutdown situation because Congress grants spending/borrowing authority for a fixed period of time. Quite simply, money executive and judicial branch entities can have at the money in the world, but when the appropriation that provided that money expires, they can't spend it because they no longer have authorization to spend it.

One of Congress' primary duties is to pass a budget legislation. Such legislation is called an appropriation, and what an appropriation is is the authority to spend/borrow money. Congress is the only branch of government that can authorize that money be spent/borrowed. Though the Constitution's Appropriation and Statements of Account clause (Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7) does not stipulate the time period an appropriation must cover, the principles of sound management call Congress to appropriate spending authority for long enough periods that the executive branch can obtain the goods and services it needs to do its job. The absence of such a stipulation is why Congress passes continuing resolutions (CRs).

What's the difference between a budget appropriation and a CR? Well, first of all, appropriations are spending authority; they define a sum of money that can be spent/borrowed, the period of time during which that authority is valid, and who is authorized to spend/borrow various sums of money. Thus a CR is a type of appropriation, and in fact, there are three types of appropriations (appropriation bills):

Regular appropriations bills provide most of the funding that is provided in all appropriations measures for a fiscal year and must be enacted by October 1, the beginning of the fiscal year. If regular bills are not enacted by the beginning of the new fiscal year, Congress adopts continuing resolutions to continue funding, generally until regular bills are enacted. Supplemental appropriations bills provide additional appropriations to become available during a fiscal year.
(Source)​

For all the "who struck John" about the current government shutdown, the inescapable fact of the matter is that the root reason the government has shutdown is because the members of the 115th Congress have shirked their duty to pass a regular appropriations bill.

The lack of a regular appropriation isn't egregiously problematic for all units and activities of the executive branch, and only rarely is it so for the judicial branch.Some activities of the government can simply pick up where they left off with little impact other than delays the costs associated with delays.

That said, activities that cannot be performed and paid for in the period covered by a CR simply cannot commence. What kind of activities fall into that realm? All sorts of them...purchases of military hardware and other capital property (fixed assets, in accounting parlance) purchases regardless of whether it's military or not, governmental process improvement initiatives, intelligence gathering equipment, upgrade and maintenance contracts, and more. The simple fact is that for a number of things the government must purchase, the most efficient (cost and process wise) and effective way to do so is via multi-year contracts.

Quite simply, certain entities of the government cannot, given the short term nature of CRs, contract to obtain the goods/services they need. They cannot because they don't know whether, upon the CR's expiration, Congress will authorize the spending authority needed to complete the project. Insofar as such long term endeavors cost tens and more millions of dollars and the government has a fiduciary duty not to assume undue risk, government managers can't very well start an initiative, pay several million or many millions on a few weeks/months worth of it, only to later find out the project has to be cancelled because Congress' next CR didn't include authorization funding the initiative's continuance.

Key Observations Regarding the Appropriations Process:

• How many FY 2018 regular appropriations bills have the 115th Congress passed? None.
  
  Ever since their being seated in January 2017, they passed one omnibus bill to get through the remainder of FY 2017. For FY 2018, they had from January 2017 to Sept 30, 2017 to pass a regular appropriations bill for FY 2018, and they didn't pass one. Because they have yet to pass a FY 2018 regular appropriation.
• While there is much about the appropriations process that is political, there is nothing political about the fact that one of Congress' duties to to pass a budget bill that enables efficient operation of the government. To fulfill that duty, Congress must pass a regular appropriations bill, not a litany of CRs.
• To get a budget bill passed, like it or not, the majority party must compromise enough so enough of the minority party's members will vote for it. Devising those compromises is also part of Congress' duty because, like it or not, the U.S. government not a parliamentary one.

The right wing was able to cut taxes but not fund Government?

Up to today, yes. I really can't say whether the 115th Congress will ever pass a regular or omnibus appropriations bill.

Unless we start sending a clear message that we expect them to do their job or lose it, I highly doubt it!

Well, yes.

Indeed, were I and my fellow partners in our firm to not submit our budgets to the executive committee, we'd be thrown out of the partnership. The same would happen to an executive committee member who was instrumental in the committee's not being able to respond to one or more of the budget requests it receives. They don't have to approve the budget as requested, but they do have to either approve it thus or return it with changes and either (1) a request for additional input, (2) an explanation of why the changes were made, or (3) simple approval of the budget requested. It matters not where one is in the hierarchy; everyone has a job to do and everyone must do it and do it well. Period.

There are no exceptions to that requirement. Why anyone forbears it being different for elected office holders is beyond me. The fact of the matter is that negotiating, giving and taking is part of the job of being a member of Congress and part of the appropriations process. And that means unless one is a member of a "super majority," one is not going to universally get one's way.

 

[Circe]

Unless we start sending a clear message that we expect them to do their job or lose it, I highly doubt it!

Right. They are voting again today, Monday, which is pretty soon! I'm guessing the Dems have figured out the country is disgusted with them and their dirty tactics. And that the sooner they pull back the less damage they may suffer in November at the polls.

 

[usmbguest5318]

Government shutdowns are a periodicity matters, not lack money matters. Why is that so? Because even if Congress were, say in its last continuing resolution, to have explicitly stated that there was no limit on the amount of spending/borrowing the executive or judicial branch departments, agencies, bureaus, etc., we'd still be in a shutdown situation because Congress grants spending/borrowing authority for a fixed period of time. Quite simply, money executive and judicial branch entities can have at the money in the world, but when the appropriation that provided that money expires, they can't spend it because they no longer have authorization to spend it.

One of Congress' primary duties is to pass a budget legislation. Such legislation is called an appropriation, and what an appropriation is is the authority to spend/borrow money. Congress is the only branch of government that can authorize that money be spent/borrowed. Though the Constitution's Appropriation and Statements of Account clause (Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7) does not stipulate the time period an appropriation must cover, the principles of sound management call Congress to appropriate spending authority for long enough periods that the executive branch can obtain the goods and services it needs to do its job. The absence of such a stipulation is why Congress passes continuing resolutions (CRs).

What's the difference between a budget appropriation and a CR? Well, first of all, appropriations are spending authority; they define a sum of money that can be spent/borrowed, the period of time during which that authority is valid, and who is authorized to spend/borrow various sums of money. Thus a CR is a type of appropriation, and in fact, there are three types of appropriations (appropriation bills):

Regular appropriations bills provide most of the funding that is provided in all appropriations measures for a fiscal year and must be enacted by October 1, the beginning of the fiscal year. If regular bills are not enacted by the beginning of the new fiscal year, Congress adopts continuing resolutions to continue funding, generally until regular bills are enacted. Supplemental appropriations bills provide additional appropriations to become available during a fiscal year.
(Source)​

For all the "who struck John" about the current government shutdown, the inescapable fact of the matter is that the root reason the government has shutdown is because the members of the 115th Congress have shirked their duty to pass a regular appropriations bill.

The lack of a regular appropriation isn't egregiously problematic for all units and activities of the executive branch, and only rarely is it so for the judicial branch.Some activities of the government can simply pick up where they left off with little impact other than delays the costs associated with delays.

That said, activities that cannot be performed and paid for in the period covered by a CR simply cannot commence. What kind of activities fall into that realm? All sorts of them...purchases of military hardware and other capital property (fixed assets, in accounting parlance) purchases regardless of whether it's military or not, governmental process improvement initiatives, intelligence gathering equipment, upgrade and maintenance contracts, and more. The simple fact is that for a number of things the government must purchase, the most efficient (cost and process wise) and effective way to do so is via multi-year contracts.

Quite simply, certain entities of the government cannot, given the short term nature of CRs, contract to obtain the goods/services they need. They cannot because they don't know whether, upon the CR's expiration, Congress will authorize the spending authority needed to complete the project. Insofar as such long term endeavors cost tens and more millions of dollars and the government has a fiduciary duty not to assume undue risk, government managers can't very well start an initiative, pay several million or many millions on a few weeks/months worth of it, only to later find out the project has to be cancelled because Congress' next CR didn't include authorization funding the initiative's continuance.

Key Observations Regarding the Appropriations Process:

• How many FY 2018 regular appropriations bills have the 115th Congress passed? None.
  
  Ever since their being seated in January 2017, they passed one omnibus bill to get through the remainder of FY 2017. For FY 2018, they had from January 2017 to Sept 30, 2017 to pass a regular appropriations bill for FY 2018, and they didn't pass one. Because they have yet to pass a FY 2018 regular appropriation.
• While there is much about the appropriations process that is political, there is nothing political about the fact that one of Congress' duties to to pass a budget bill that enables efficient operation of the government. To fulfill that duty, Congress must pass a regular appropriations bill, not a litany of CRs.
• To get a budget bill passed, like it or not, the majority party must compromise enough so enough of the minority party's members will vote for it. Devising those compromises is also part of Congress' duty because, like it or not, the U.S. government not a parliamentary one.

The right wing was able to cut taxes but not fund Government?

Up to today and with regard to FY 2018, that's the case. I really can't say whether the 115th Congress will ever pass a regular or omnibus appropriations bill.

One thing to note is that passing a "proper" appropriations bill isn't something that one political wing/side can alone do, nor should it be because taxpayers come from both parties, and one should not have to see one's taxes go to fund no major issue about which one cares.

the right wing believes we can lower taxes to decrease the size of government; lets end our alleged wars on crime, drugs, and terror to balance the budget.

Off Topic:

the right wing believes we can lower taxes to decrease the size of government

I don't know if they do or don't, nor do I care here which be so. The way to reduce the size of government is to pass legislation eliminating units of government, or stipulating employee caps, or any number of other direct means of doing so.​

 

[danielpalos]

Unless we start sending a clear message that we expect them to do their job or lose it, I highly doubt it!

Right. They are voting again today, Monday, which is pretty soon! I'm guessing the Dems have figured out the country is disgusted with them and their dirty tactics. And that the sooner they pull back the less damage they may suffer in November at the polls.

what dirty tactics? The right wing believed they should cut taxes instead of fund Government; and now, they are complaining that the democrats won't go along with them.

 

[danielpalos]

Government shutdowns are a periodicity matters, not lack money matters. Why is that so? Because even if Congress were, say in its last continuing resolution, to have explicitly stated that there was no limit on the amount of spending/borrowing the executive or judicial branch departments, agencies, bureaus, etc., we'd still be in a shutdown situation because Congress grants spending/borrowing authority for a fixed period of time. Quite simply, money executive and judicial branch entities can have at the money in the world, but when the appropriation that provided that money expires, they can't spend it because they no longer have authorization to spend it.

One of Congress' primary duties is to pass a budget legislation. Such legislation is called an appropriation, and what an appropriation is is the authority to spend/borrow money. Congress is the only branch of government that can authorize that money be spent/borrowed. Though the Constitution's Appropriation and Statements of Account clause (Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7) does not stipulate the time period an appropriation must cover, the principles of sound management call Congress to appropriate spending authority for long enough periods that the executive branch can obtain the goods and services it needs to do its job. The absence of such a stipulation is why Congress passes continuing resolutions (CRs).

What's the difference between a budget appropriation and a CR? Well, first of all, appropriations are spending authority; they define a sum of money that can be spent/borrowed, the period of time during which that authority is valid, and who is authorized to spend/borrow various sums of money. Thus a CR is a type of appropriation, and in fact, there are three types of appropriations (appropriation bills):

Regular appropriations bills provide most of the funding that is provided in all appropriations measures for a fiscal year and must be enacted by October 1, the beginning of the fiscal year. If regular bills are not enacted by the beginning of the new fiscal year, Congress adopts continuing resolutions to continue funding, generally until regular bills are enacted. Supplemental appropriations bills provide additional appropriations to become available during a fiscal year.
(Source)​

For all the "who struck John" about the current government shutdown, the inescapable fact of the matter is that the root reason the government has shutdown is because the members of the 115th Congress have shirked their duty to pass a regular appropriations bill.

The lack of a regular appropriation isn't egregiously problematic for all units and activities of the executive branch, and only rarely is it so for the judicial branch.Some activities of the government can simply pick up where they left off with little impact other than delays the costs associated with delays.

That said, activities that cannot be performed and paid for in the period covered by a CR simply cannot commence. What kind of activities fall into that realm? All sorts of them...purchases of military hardware and other capital property (fixed assets, in accounting parlance) purchases regardless of whether it's military or not, governmental process improvement initiatives, intelligence gathering equipment, upgrade and maintenance contracts, and more. The simple fact is that for a number of things the government must purchase, the most efficient (cost and process wise) and effective way to do so is via multi-year contracts.

Quite simply, certain entities of the government cannot, given the short term nature of CRs, contract to obtain the goods/services they need. They cannot because they don't know whether, upon the CR's expiration, Congress will authorize the spending authority needed to complete the project. Insofar as such long term endeavors cost tens and more millions of dollars and the government has a fiduciary duty not to assume undue risk, government managers can't very well start an initiative, pay several million or many millions on a few weeks/months worth of it, only to later find out the project has to be cancelled because Congress' next CR didn't include authorization funding the initiative's continuance.

Key Observations Regarding the Appropriations Process:

• How many FY 2018 regular appropriations bills have the 115th Congress passed? None.
  
  Ever since their being seated in January 2017, they passed one omnibus bill to get through the remainder of FY 2017. For FY 2018, they had from January 2017 to Sept 30, 2017 to pass a regular appropriations bill for FY 2018, and they didn't pass one. Because they have yet to pass a FY 2018 regular appropriation.
• While there is much about the appropriations process that is political, there is nothing political about the fact that one of Congress' duties to to pass a budget bill that enables efficient operation of the government. To fulfill that duty, Congress must pass a regular appropriations bill, not a litany of CRs.
• To get a budget bill passed, like it or not, the majority party must compromise enough so enough of the minority party's members will vote for it. Devising those compromises is also part of Congress' duty because, like it or not, the U.S. government not a parliamentary one.

The right wing was able to cut taxes but not fund Government?

Up to today and with regard to FY 2018, that's the case. I really can't say whether the 115th Congress will ever pass a regular or omnibus appropriations bill.

One thing to note is that passing a "proper" appropriations bill isn't something that one political wing/side can alone do, nor should it be because taxpayers come from both parties, and one should not have to see one's taxes go to fund no major issue about which one cares.

the right wing believes we can lower taxes to decrease the size of government; lets end our alleged wars on crime, drugs, and terror to balance the budget.

Off Topic:

the right wing believes we can lower taxes to decrease the size of government

I don't know if they do or don't, nor do I care here which be so. The way to reduce the size of government is to pass legislation eliminating units of government, or stipulating employee caps, or any number of other direct means of doing so.​

this is why, nobody takes the right wing seriously about economics, or Constitutional law.

 

[usmbguest5318]

Government shutdowns are a periodicity matters, not lack money matters. Why is that so? Because even if Congress were, say in its last continuing resolution, to have explicitly stated that there was no limit on the amount of spending/borrowing the executive or judicial branch departments, agencies, bureaus, etc., we'd still be in a shutdown situation because Congress grants spending/borrowing authority for a fixed period of time. Quite simply, money executive and judicial branch entities can have at the money in the world, but when the appropriation that provided that money expires, they can't spend it because they no longer have authorization to spend it.

One of Congress' primary duties is to pass a budget legislation. Such legislation is called an appropriation, and what an appropriation is is the authority to spend/borrow money. Congress is the only branch of government that can authorize that money be spent/borrowed. Though the Constitution's Appropriation and Statements of Account clause (Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7) does not stipulate the time period an appropriation must cover, the principles of sound management call Congress to appropriate spending authority for long enough periods that the executive branch can obtain the goods and services it needs to do its job. The absence of such a stipulation is why Congress passes continuing resolutions (CRs).

What's the difference between a budget appropriation and a CR? Well, first of all, appropriations are spending authority; they define a sum of money that can be spent/borrowed, the period of time during which that authority is valid, and who is authorized to spend/borrow various sums of money. Thus a CR is a type of appropriation, and in fact, there are three types of appropriations (appropriation bills):

Regular appropriations bills provide most of the funding that is provided in all appropriations measures for a fiscal year and must be enacted by October 1, the beginning of the fiscal year. If regular bills are not enacted by the beginning of the new fiscal year, Congress adopts continuing resolutions to continue funding, generally until regular bills are enacted. Supplemental appropriations bills provide additional appropriations to become available during a fiscal year.
(Source)​

For all the "who struck John" about the current government shutdown, the inescapable fact of the matter is that the root reason the government has shutdown is because the members of the 115th Congress have shirked their duty to pass a regular appropriations bill.

The lack of a regular appropriation isn't egregiously problematic for all units and activities of the executive branch, and only rarely is it so for the judicial branch.Some activities of the government can simply pick up where they left off with little impact other than delays the costs associated with delays.

That said, activities that cannot be performed and paid for in the period covered by a CR simply cannot commence. What kind of activities fall into that realm? All sorts of them...purchases of military hardware and other capital property (fixed assets, in accounting parlance) purchases regardless of whether it's military or not, governmental process improvement initiatives, intelligence gathering equipment, upgrade and maintenance contracts, and more. The simple fact is that for a number of things the government must purchase, the most efficient (cost and process wise) and effective way to do so is via multi-year contracts.

Quite simply, certain entities of the government cannot, given the short term nature of CRs, contract to obtain the goods/services they need. They cannot because they don't know whether, upon the CR's expiration, Congress will authorize the spending authority needed to complete the project. Insofar as such long term endeavors cost tens and more millions of dollars and the government has a fiduciary duty not to assume undue risk, government managers can't very well start an initiative, pay several million or many millions on a few weeks/months worth of it, only to later find out the project has to be cancelled because Congress' next CR didn't include authorization funding the initiative's continuance.

Key Observations Regarding the Appropriations Process:

• How many FY 2018 regular appropriations bills have the 115th Congress passed? None.
  
  Ever since their being seated in January 2017, they passed one omnibus bill to get through the remainder of FY 2017. For FY 2018, they had from January 2017 to Sept 30, 2017 to pass a regular appropriations bill for FY 2018, and they didn't pass one. Because they have yet to pass a FY 2018 regular appropriation.
• While there is much about the appropriations process that is political, there is nothing political about the fact that one of Congress' duties to to pass a budget bill that enables efficient operation of the government. To fulfill that duty, Congress must pass a regular appropriations bill, not a litany of CRs.
• To get a budget bill passed, like it or not, the majority party must compromise enough so enough of the minority party's members will vote for it. Devising those compromises is also part of Congress' duty because, like it or not, the U.S. government not a parliamentary one.

The right wing was able to cut taxes but not fund Government?

Up to today and with regard to FY 2018, that's the case. I really can't say whether the 115th Congress will ever pass a regular or omnibus appropriations bill.

One thing to note is that passing a "proper" appropriations bill isn't something that one political wing/side can alone do, nor should it be because taxpayers come from both parties, and one should not have to see one's taxes go to fund no major issue about which one cares.

the right wing believes we can lower taxes to decrease the size of government; lets end our alleged wars on crime, drugs, and terror to balance the budget.

Off Topic:

the right wing believes we can lower taxes to decrease the size of government

I don't know if they do or don't, nor do I care here which be so. The way to reduce the size of government is to pass legislation eliminating units of government, or stipulating employee caps, or any number of other direct means of doing so.​

this is why, nobody takes the right wing seriously about economics, or Constitutional law.

....Whatever...I indulged your off-topic remark, but the extent to which I did so is as far as I care to take it. By all means, create your own thread to discuss how seriously anyone takes the right wing's ideas, proposals, etc. regarding economics, Constitutional law or anything else that pleases you.