As G.O.P. Seeks Spending Cuts, Details Are Scarce
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
NYT
WASHINGTON — In Indiana, Representative Mike Pence, the No. 3 House Republican, complains about “runaway federal spending on steroids.”
In Alaska, the Republican candidate for the Senate, Joe Miller, talks about “out of control spending.” And in Arizona, Jesse Kelly, a Republican hoping to oust Representative Gabrielle Giffords, says, “We’re spending our way into bankruptcy.”
If there is a single message unifying Republican candidates this year, it is a call to grab hold of the federal checkbook, slam it closed and begin to slash spending. To bolster their case that action is needed, Republicans are citing major legislation over the four years that Democrats have controlled Congress, notably the financial system bailout, the economic stimulus and the new health care law.
But while polls show that the Republicans’ message is succeeding politically, Republican candidates and party leaders are offering few specifics about how they would tackle the nation’s $13.7 trillion debt, and budget analysts said the party was glossing over the difficulty of carrying out its ideas, especially when sharp spending cuts could impede an already weak economic recovery.
(More here.)
NYT
WASHINGTON — In Indiana, Representative Mike Pence, the No. 3 House Republican, complains about “runaway federal spending on steroids.”
In Alaska, the Republican candidate for the Senate, Joe Miller, talks about “out of control spending.” And in Arizona, Jesse Kelly, a Republican hoping to oust Representative Gabrielle Giffords, says, “We’re spending our way into bankruptcy.”
If there is a single message unifying Republican candidates this year, it is a call to grab hold of the federal checkbook, slam it closed and begin to slash spending. To bolster their case that action is needed, Republicans are citing major legislation over the four years that Democrats have controlled Congress, notably the financial system bailout, the economic stimulus and the new health care law.
But while polls show that the Republicans’ message is succeeding politically, Republican candidates and party leaders are offering few specifics about how they would tackle the nation’s $13.7 trillion debt, and budget analysts said the party was glossing over the difficulty of carrying out its ideas, especially when sharp spending cuts could impede an already weak economic recovery.
(More here.)
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1 Comments:
The Republicans have no creditablity on this issue.
Consider the letter that John Boehner sent about a session after Election Day,
... here are two key lines :
While Congress should finish its business by considering appropriations bills, we write to urge you at a minimum to resist the temptation of including earmarks in any other post-election appropriations scenario.
Due to the Republican earmark moratorium, all but the slightest fraction of the earmarks were requested by members of the majority.
So, the reason is that the Republicans - by choice - did not submit "earmark" requests, therefore, they propose that the House should just wait until after the Election so that they can takeover as Committee Chairman ... and steer money to their projects.
Second, one bill that the House approved during the last days of the session, was the NASA budget.
The PLEDGE said that they wanted to roll back funding to FY2008 levels ... okay, the FY2008 budget was $17.8 billion (compared to the $17.6 requested by President Bush).
President Obama's FY2010 request for NASA was $18.686 billion.
The bill as passed authorizes NASA funding for three years ($19.0 billion in FY 2011 to $19.96 billion in FY 2013); extends the life of the International Space Station by five years to 2020; lays out a transition to commercial cargo and crew services for near-earth orbit; funds an additional Shuttle mission; and invests in a heavy-lift vehicle program that will make use of expertise from the Constellation and Shuttle programs.
Where's the creditablity ... and this bill was approved by a bi-partsian group ... Tim Walz, a Democrat, voted NO ... John Kline, a Republican, voted YES ... the Republicans talk about the need to cuts spending, but they refuse to cut spending that goes to corporations via NASA or military programs.
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