House Appropriations Chair Takes Down Republican Budget: It ‘Cuts Too Much’

[ProSense]

House Appropriations Chair Takes Down Republican Budget: It ‘Cuts Too Much’

By Annie-Rose Strasser

Even the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee thinks Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) budget goes too far.

On Thursday night, Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY) — who represents the second poorest Congressional district in the country — told a local Kentucky station that he will vote for the House Republican budget. But, he said, he will do so reluctantly, since he believes the proposal “cuts too much,” especially given how much Republicans have slashed discretionary spending in the last two years:

“I’ll be voting for it. It’s not exactly to my liking. There are a lot of things that I’m not happy with, including the overall big number,” he said. “It cuts too much spending, frankly, from the discretionary side of the budget. Most people don’t realize that we only appropriate 1/3 of federal spending … and we’ve cut that by $100 billion over the last two years.“

Watch the discussion of the budget, starting at 2:30:

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The Ryan budget certainly has a terrible effect for Rep. Rogers’ constituents living in poverty. It would make drastic changes to Medicaid, turning the program into a block grant system that wouldn’t keep up with growing healthcare costs or inflation. The plan similarly block grants food stamp spending, leading to cutbacks in the thousands for families that rely on nutrition assistance. Other safety net program would feel the brunt of the Ryan budget too, while corporations and the rich would enjoy huge tax breaks.

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http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/03/15/1724941/rogers-republican-budget/

Astounding hypocrisy and moronism as reality bites Republicans in the ass. This should be good for a 2014 ad against the entire Republican Party.

Sequestration NIMBYism Grips GOP

Brian Beutler

A strange sickness is afflicting congressional Republicans.

Unwilling to team up with Democrats to replace sequestration with a mix of spending cuts and tax increases, and unable to pass a cuts-only sequestration measure on their own, Republicans’ official position is that they’ve made their peace with enduring, across-the-board spending cuts in perpetuity.

But now that those cuts are creating real consequences, individual members are experiencing buyer’s remorse. The only problem is, until they change their underlying position on replacing sequestration, the only thing they can do about it is whine.

Call it sequestration NIMBYism.

“It seems difficult to say with a straight face that completely eliminating a source of revenue for the National Park Service is a smart, targeted cut,” said Sen. John Thune (R-SD), a member of GOP leadership.

Thune says he thinks the National Park Service made a political decision to close revenue-generating campgrounds, including at Wind Cave National Park in his home state, to make the cuts more visible to the public....Sequestration is intended to be indiscriminate. It requires federal agencies to reduce spending by a certain percentage on each of their programs and activities...all House and Senate members are likely to see some consequences in their districts and states. But when those consequences materialize, Republicans either blame the administration or plead for special treatment.

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http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/03/sequestration-nimbyism-grips-gop.php

Krugman: After the Flimflam
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022511342