Introducing the $5.35 Billion (or more) Put Up or Shut Up Act of 2011

[jmowreader]

The Republicans say Congressional Democrats are "addicted to spending," whatever the fuck that means.

Let's see if they can put their money where their mouth is.

I sent this to Senator Franken because, of all the current senators, he's the most likely to do it: The Put Up or Shut Up Act of 2012 will require every Member of Congress to cut $10 million in spending from their own districts. For instance, Raul Labrador can't propose cutting a block grant to Los Angeles County because LA County is in California and Raul Labrador, to my great chagrin, is from Idaho.

In the great scheme of things $5.35 billion is NOT a huge amount of money; when the deficit is over $1 trillion it's almost nothing at all. But do our idiot Repuke "cut, cut, cut" legislators have the balls to cut, cut and cut when it has the potential to affect their own reelections?

[Rincewind]

1. Might not be a good idea.

The repugs will just cut services to the poor and middle class, and then blame Sen. Franken when people complain. You have to remember, that these people have no shame, and no compassion for others.

[WhoIsNumberNone]

2. I have to agree

it would be great if you could force them to cut it from pork, but any Republican can find $10 million to cut out of highways, libraries and public schools. And if they have a Planned Parenthood in their district? Too easy.

[Owlet]

3. But, if I understand the bill correctly,

each congresscritter will have to cut $10 mil from his/her OWN district's Federal monies. One would think that if the cuts affected the poor and middle class that there would be a bit of a public backlash and - gasp - put said congressworm's reelection at risk. Wishful thinking? Maybe, but I still like the idea.

[jmowreader]

4. You get the idea

Any Repuke can easily come up with $10 million in budget cuts outside his or her district. (Democrats too, but this isn't about them.)

Take our batshit friend Michele Bachmann. If you told her, "give us $10 million in budget cuts, right now," she'd just say to cut $10 million from Planned Parenthood's federal funding. Or cut $10 million in federal education funds to California. But if she had to cut $10 million from her own district? That's going to take some doing because the people she WANTS to cut from are also the people who put her in office: the middle-income and lower-income evangelicals. We talk about 1-percenters, but you can't win a dogcatcher race with one percent of the electorate in favor of you.