Hate the sequester? Proponents of higher military spending do– and for sequester opponents, Rep. Bill Shuster’s air traffic control “privatization” plan could be bad news.
The Hill reports that the plan would trigger the sequester– and therefore, mandatory spending cuts.
That analysis comes from the non-partisan Congressional Research Service, which previously determined that the bill was likely unconstitutional.
Across-the-board sequester spending cuts of about $50 billion would be triggered because the “privatization” would increase the deficit by up to $100 billion, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.
According to the Hill, passage of Shuster’s plan would force reductions in the amount spent on Medicare, the Military Retirement Fund, and/or the Federal Emergency Management Agency National Flood Insurance Fund, among other items.
The “privatization” being pushed by Shuster is the #1 lobbying priority of Airlines 4 America, which just so happens to employ Shuster’s lobbyist girlfriend.
Both she and Shuster have claimed she does not “lobby” the congressman, though the relationship and Shuster’s continued pursuit of “privatization” over multiple sessions of Congress have jeopardized his political standing in his home district.
In 2016, Shuster narrowly escaped a primary challenge from a little-known Tea Party opponent who attacked the plan and Shuster’s ethics in pushing it, given his girlfriend lobbyist’s employer’s policy priorities.
His hometown newspaper also repeatedly editorialized about his relationship and attendant ethical concerns.