Democrats fight House GOP's proposed 2011 budget cuts

In a precursor to the debate to come, House and Senate Democrats on Wednesday questioned the wisdom of a House GOP proposal to cut about $58 billion in nonsecurity discretionary spending from President Obama's fiscal 2011 budget, saying that the cuts would fall disproportionately on the most-vulnerable citizens.

But their message was undercut a bit by news that Obama would, for his fiscal 2012 budget, propose cutting several billion dollars from the government's energy-assistance fund for the poor, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. Under the president's proposed spending plan for the next fiscal year, funding for LIHEAP would drop by about $2.5 billion from an authorized 2009 total of $5.1 billion.

Nevertheless, congressional Democrats came out swinging against the House GOP proposal, which would replace the current continuing resolution and fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year. The GOP plan includes a $758 million cut from the supplemental-nutrition program for women, infants, and children, and a $600 million decrease for the Community Oriented Policing Services program, among other reductions.

"Democrats are committed to fiscal discipline.… But we will not do so at the expense of good jobs, a strong middle class, and a growing economy," House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement.

House Appropriations Committee ranking member Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., called the proposal "one-dimensional," and designed to sound good in a press release, but he said it is likely to adversely affect citizens, mostly the poor, who depend on government services.

"We have expressed our strong commitment to tackling our unsustainable national debt, and we will work with our Republican colleagues to tackle waste, fraud, and abuse across the federal budget," Dicks said in a release.

Their comments came after House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky., on Wednesday morning released a partial list of 70 cuts that will be included in legislation anticipated to be on the floor next week-when the debate will likely hit a fever pitch. The bill is designed to replace the current CR, which expires on March 4.

The GOP is expected to release the full list of cuts in its spending plan this week.

The House Republican plan caps total discretionary spending at $1.055 trillion, which is $73.6 billion less than Obama requested in his fiscal 2011 budget. The $73.6 billion cut includes $58 billion less than Obama's nonsecurity spending request and $15.6 billion less in security spending. From current spending, the proposal amounts to a $35 billion cut.

House Republicans in September pledged to roll back nonsecurity discretionary spending to fiscal 2008 levels, which amounts to about $100 billion less than the president's fiscal 2011 budget request. At a presentation to the GOP caucus on Wednesday morning, Rogers stressed that the Republican plan is a down payment on the $100 billion campaign promise.

But with Republicans expected to allow virtually any and all amendments on the House floor next week, Democrats were skeptical that some of the cuts would hold; many of the programs are popular among both parties.

Rep. Chaka Fattah, D-Pa., ranking member of the Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Subcommittee, said he expects some Republicans to side with Democrats on amendments.

"The process that they have set up-which I think they need to be commended for-that is, they are laying [the cuts out], and they are going to come to the floor, and members are going to have a chance to work their will," Fattah said, adding, "There will be a reconsideration [of] some of these proposals."

Fattah agrees that opportunity exists to find savings within the C-J-S bill, but he thinks that there is too little time to reasonably identify it before March 4.
The Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS program, which is funded in the C-J-S bill, allows communities facing economic duress to hire or retain police officers.

"A responsive police department is not a luxury-less cops on the beat equals more crime on our streets," Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., said in a release.

Rep. Sam Farr, D-Calif., who is ranking member of the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, which funds the women, infants, and children nutrition program, said that cutting that spending will cost money in the future.

"The medical community will tell you that the highest-cost babies are low-weight, and what WIC does so effectively is prevent that high-risk birth," Farr said. "It really is the ounce of prevention that really is worth the pound of cure."

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the chairman of the Democratic Policy and Communications Center, was also critical.

"We need to cut spending, but we need to do it by focusing on waste," Schumer said. "This proposal would get rid of cops that keep our streets safe, food inspectors that keep our food safe, and cut home heating oil for seniors. These are extreme ideas that will take the country backwards."

But that line of argument is harder to make when the president also proposes to cut heating-oil assistance.