Lawmakers begin to push back against proposed program cuts

Democrats and Republicans generally agreed Thursday with President Obama, who proposed trimming $17 billion in the fiscal 2010 budget, that wasteful federal programs must be cut. But when pressed on specific programs, lawmakers said they intend to go to bat for their constituents.

One example is Obama's proposal -- included in his detailed budget release that also proposed axing or scaling back another 120 programs -- to cut direct payments to farmers with annual sales of more than $500,000. The move would save $85 million in fiscal 2010 and about $9.8 billion over 10 years.

"According to the recently released 2007 Census of Agriculture, about 9.1 percent of farms collecting government payments have sales of $500,000 or more and they collect 36.6 percent of all government payments," budget documents said. "The President wants to maintain a strong safety net for farm families and beginning farmers while ensuring fiscal responsibility."

But farm-state lawmakers contend that the payments were included in the farm bill enacted last year and pledge to oppose the recommendation.

"The five-year farm bill ... represents a commitment to agriculture that we think needs to be kept," said Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D. "We don't think much of this idea.

"We had our holiday from worrying about deficits with the preceding administration. I like the fact that they are looking at cuts even though it may put us as advocates" in a position that requires a defense of some programs, he said.

Obama also proposed eliminating payments to compensate cotton producers for their cost of storing cotton that is put under loan with USDA. Cutting cotton storage credits would save $52 million in fiscal 2010 and $570 million over 10 years.

"The credits allow producers to store their cotton at the Government's cost until prices rise," the budget documents said. "Therefore, storage credits for cotton have a negative impact on the amount of cotton on the market."

"Because cotton storage is covered by the Government, producers may store their cotton for longer than necessary. There is no reason the Government should be paying for the storage of cotton, particularly since it does not provide this assistance for other commodities," the budget said.

House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member Jack Kingston, R-Ga., said he would seek to stave off the cut by including it in the Agriculture appropriations bill.

"I don't think this administration is exactly enamored with Red State America or the plight of the family farm," Kingston said.

Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., said he would discuss the issue with his colleagues from other cotton states in order to present a united front.

"Every other commodity got an increase in support price. [Cotton] didn't get one," Chambliss said. "We asked that the money we could get in support price increase be used for cotton storage purposes.

"So for them to come in now and say that 'We are not going to allow you an increase support price and we are to take away your cotton storage funding' is inconceivable to me and I am not sure what the rationale behind it is," he said.

Agriculture wasn't the only targeted cut that prompted resistance.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said she was concerned about a proposal to cut the Denali Commission, which supports construction of health facilities in her home state. The move would save $20 million in fiscal 2010.

"It is not unique to the Obama administration," Murkowski said. "When cuts have been made in the president's budget, we work to reinsert them later on through the process and have been successful, so that is what we will be doing."

Senate Interior-EPA Appropriations Subcommittee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said she was pleased overall with the budget, but worried about proposed cuts in certain programs, including the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, which is a formula grant program that provides financial assistance to states and localities for correctional officer salary costs incurred for incarcerating undocumented immigrants convicted of crimes. The program received $400 million in fiscal 2009.

"Immigration is a total federal responsibility," Feinstein said in a statement. "By failing to reimburse states and local governments for the cost of incarcerating criminal aliens, the federal government deprives communities of critical funding for public safety services.

"We cannot afford to let our public safety services crumble under the weight of our immigration policies, especially during this time of economic uncertainty," she said. "I am committed to restoring the funding for this essential program."

But fiscal conservative Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., called on Obama to make more cuts. "It's commendable but certainly insufficient," Flake said, adding that he hopes that Obama spends political capital to push through real spending cuts, especially ending the farm payments.

Meanwhile, Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-La., a co-chairman for the Blue Dog Coalition, praised Obama's initiative and praised his call for Congress to pass pay/go legislation, which is a top priority for the group.

"In taking this important step to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in government spending, President Obama is demonstrating his commitment to putting our country back on a fiscally sustainable path," Melancon said in a statement.

"The Blue Dogs stand ready to work with the administration as we continue to take steps to restore responsibility and accountability to the federal government, including, as President Obama mentioned in his remarks today, reinstituting the statutory pay-as-you-go rules of the 1990s," he added.