Democrats Still Not Serious about Spending
Media reports may try to suggest otherwise, but the responsibility of avoiding a potential government shutdown rests entirely with Harry Reid and the Senate Democrats.
House Republicans have already passed legislation to keep the government functioning past the March 4 deadline, when the current funding measure expires. In one of the most open debate processes in years, the House recently spent 60 hours debating the continuing resolution to fund government operations, considering about 100 amendments of the initial 580 offered. As the Wall Street Journal stated, "It has been eons since the nation's elected representatives have had to study harder, debate with such earnestness, or commit themselves so publicly." Both Republicans and Democrats had the opportunity to offer amendments -- which, the Journal also noted -- is "a courtesy Speaker Nancy Pelosi never extended" to Republicans during Democratic control of the House.
The process was instructive, revealing very clearly which party wants to reduce spending. Republicans repeatedly introduced amendments focused on spending cuts while Democrats consistently argued to keep wasteful spending in place.
By the time the final legislation was passed in the early morning hours of February 19, we had cut $100 billion from President Obama's budget request for fiscal year 2011. The House passed my amendment to cancel public funding of presidential campaigns, saving $38 million this year. Overall, the 67 amendments that were approved reflect the priorities and values of the American people and recognize that we must even cut worthwhile programs in order to alleviate our crushing debt.
In addition to passing nine amendments to deny funding for implementation of the fiscally disastrous and burdensome Obamacare regulations, we also voted to cut spending for the EPA's Greenhouse Gas Registry, the "United States Institute of Peace," National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs program, which used $4.5 million in taxpayer money to support performing arts and exhibitions in Washington, D.C. -- hardly a pressing national need. We also approved an amendment to cancel federal funding for Planned Parenthood and its affiliates.
Despite the record-breaking $1.5 trillion deficit and $14 trillion debt, the Obama White House threatened to veto the spending cuts while Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other Senate Democrats rejected the legislation out of hand and issued proposals to keep spending at current levels. This position is decidedly at odds with the American people. According to a recent USA Today poll, 62 percent of Americans prefer spending cuts equal to or even greater than those Republicans approved.
In the face of Democrats' refusal to consider cutting $100 billion from the $3.5 trillion budget for 2011, House Republican leadership began developing a temporary funding bill that would keep the government open through March 18 while cutting $4 billion. Senator Reid initially rejected that measure before it had even been completed, then issued a lukewarm reaction -- possibly in consideration of surveys finding that 60 percent of the American people want to avoid a government shutdown. Curiously, a National Journal survey of congressional insiders -- including current members of Congress -- shows that 56 percent of Democrats believe a shutdown will benefit their party.
The prospect of a government shutdown will return with the expiration of each temporary funding agreement, and the unwillingness of Senate Democrats to cut spending has not been encouraging. Regardless of whether their seeming eagerness for a shutdown is due to cynical political calculation or devotion to wasteful spending, the facts show a Democratic party woefully out of step with the American people and dangerously unserious about the growing fiscal crisis.