House Republican Freshmen Disappoint on Budget Vote

Consider the proverbial budget can kicked another three weeks down the road as the House passed another Continuing Resolution to prevent a government shutdown. The biggest problem here is that neither party seems to understand the level of cuts that are necessary. The Republicans want to cut $61 Billion and the Dems only want to cut a fraction of that from the budget. Meanwhile, by comparison, both are virtually inconsequential when one considers that the proposed budget will run a deficit well over $1 Trillion.

Perhaps the most disturbing reality from the CR getting passed is how many Republican freshmen voted for it. Reps. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Steve King (R-IA) were asking for support in the form of 'NO' votes unless pre-appropriated dollars for Obamacare were removed from the budget. Even that amount - $105 Billion - is nothing more than a drop in the bucket of our larger budget problems. Only 22 of the nearly 100 Republican freshmen voted against the CR. The balance appears to already have forgotten what they were sent to Washington to do.

One of the bigger disappointments has been Kristi Noem of South Dakota, who has been consistently siding with the Republican leadership on budget matters. Rep. Allen West (R-FL) voted 'NO' and once again demonstrated his leadership skills translate from the battlefield nicely. Marco Rubio (R-FL) is a voice in the Senate that is echoing the sentiment of West. We are beginning to see which Tea Party candidates were up to the task. Rubio and West are among them.

Whether the 'NO' votes from Republicans - 54 in all - were the result of the efforts of Bachmann and King is at one level immaterial because the $61 Billion in proposed cuts from the Republicans is being eaten away with every passing day the new budget isn't passed. Congress seems to have no concept of accounting.

This short video sums up the overriding problem that the vast majority of Congress seems ill-equipped to deal with.



h/t Weasel Zippers