Was Rigell’s vote for a government shutdown the right one?
By JR Hoeft | Wednesday, April 13th, 2011 | PolicyThere’s an old saying: “Know when to pick your battles.”
On Friday, facing a government shutdown, Rep. Scott Rigell (VA-2) decided to pick his and vote against the continuing resolution (funding government through this week and cutting an additional $2 billion from the budget). The CR was a brokered deal between Speaker of the House John Boehner and President Barack Obama to cut a grand total of $39 billion from this year’s budget (due to be voted upon this Thursday, and includes the $12 billion from the already-passed CRs).
As the days have rolled on since last Friday, more information has come about regarding this so-called deal. Some are claiming it is a bunch of smoke and mirrors and that only $15 billion is actually being cut.
So, here’s the question: Was Rigell’s vote against the CR, which would have caused a government shutdown, the right move, given that so little spending was actually being cut and concessions were being made regarding Planned Parenthood and National Public Radio?
Explaining his vote, Rigell told Bill Bartel of the Virginian-Pilot:
“It was clear to me that the decisions that had been agreed to did not adequately address the fiscal crisis,” he said….
The deficit “threatens the foundation of our country,” Rigell said. “I have a deep resolve that it needs to be addressed now. It needs to be this Congress, this year.”
I don’t think any sane person disagrees with that analysis, but was this the battle Rigell should have picked?
By voting for what amounts to a government shutdown, he voted to cut funding for one of his core constituencies: the military. Rigell’s hands were tied because a bill that would have made funding the military independent of this CR failed to pass, so he had to make a decision: go along with the bill or fight for something larger?
Rigell chose to fight for something larger, but only pennies were at stake.
Did he make the right decision? What about the upcoming Ryan proposal? Will Rigell vote for $5 trillion in cuts, which is the true battle for spending reform?
For what it’s worth, Rigell was the only Virginia congressman to vote against the CR.
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About the author
Conservative to the core; liberal with his opinion! J.R. has been involved in politics for over a decade and has worked on several campaigns in Hampton Roads. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Chesapeake and the Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia. He is also the director of “Blogs United” in Virginia. E-mail J.R.. Follow J.R. on Twitter.
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20 Responses to "Was Rigell’s vote for a government shutdown the right one?"
From a principled point of view, he made the right decision. I would certainly be affected by a temporary loss of income if the government had shutdown…but from a political point of view, I don’t think it is helpful for him. Maybe the votes against the CR will convince the President to offer some real cuts, not because he wants to, because he doesn’t, but because he thinks it is politically to his advantage.
Given the fact that the same week the White House and GOP Leadership were crowing about “cutting” $38 billion out of the budget, it was announced that the federal debt grew by $54 billion. That is $54 billion in one week versus $38 billion in cuts for an entire fiscal year!
So yes, we are in such a fiscal hole right now, and the fact that the “deal” is increasingly demonstrating that it was weak at best, I praise Congressman Rigell for his vote.
Hopefully the Tea Party folks will eventually start playing one side against the other and get some real cuts. Sure, Republicans, the Tea Party would be happy to cut entitlement programs, education, planned parenthood, NPR, etc. Oh, and yes, Democrats, the Tea Party would be happy to cut defense spending, corporate welfare, farm subsidies, etc. Oh, wait, Democrats, you don’t want NPR cut ? Okay, fine, the Tea Party will be happy to trade you 100 million in NPR funding for another 10 billion in entitlement cuts. Oh, Republicans don’t want to cut subsidies for oil drilling in the gulf ? Okay, the Tea Party would be happy to let you keep 100 million in subsidies in exchange for another 20 billion in defense cuts, and if you throw in another 20 billion in defense cuts the Tea Party will get Democrats to cut 10 billion in entitlement spending as a bonus!
Bravo Scott! There, I said it.. Now I want to see you stand up to the establishment and very publicly represent US this next round and scuze the phrase, “Show Me The Money”. Show us where tax money goes.. use charts or other media and show the nation Who gets taxpayer dollars and what they do with it. The money trail leading out of DC reiks of paybacks and favors yet again. And enough of your modesty, you are too nice a guy Scott, show them the money Scott, I know you can put the hammer down on your own party colleagues when the heat is on (and I have covert audio from the recent past campaign to prove it)
It is long overdue to call out your failing Yea voting GOP colleagues in congress and beyond.. This latest vote should help the Tea Party movement send the likes of Boehner, Cantor and McConnell back to the rank and file if not next time the vote comes up. It is up to the freshman GOP to counter the establishment rinos in positions of leadership. You sir correctly made the right vote this time..
Job #1 for this congress sure smells like #2.. the apparent almost-a-democrat populist mission is essentially a windfall for the clients of lobbyists. Please stand clear of that cesspool.
His logic is sound. I disagree with his vote, because I think at that point, keeping the government open and running was the better strategic move.
That said, anyone else remember the commercials against Drake for her votes on Walter Reed and the GI Bill? Rigell just backed himself into a similar corner.
I think the answer to the question depends on whether Rigell knew that the budget agreement involved smoke and mirror cuts. If he did know that then it was a useful protest. If he thought the cuts were “real” then the tactic was more questionable.
Having said that, I think the real issue is why the Repubs didn’t use the CR with military pay and budget cuts as a weapon and dare the Dems to shutdown the govt? That would have been the leverage needed to achieve 61B in actual cuts as opposed to shell games.
For the first time the Repubs actually had a pretty good tactic prepared as evidenced by Dem squealing but they blinked.
Dammit, Valentinus, you just pre-empted my podcast!
JR
Just delete my post and give your podcast. No one pays any attention to what I say anyway.
When running for congress Scott Rigell was adamant about cutting spending and that is exactly what he is doing. The amount of debt our country is taking on is absolutely unsustainable and I applaud Rep. Rigell for standing his ground and fighting for what he knows is right.
Voting to deny pay to those in the military was his right and vote…
I do not agree with his vote.
The House vote was 348-70. Guess I’m more skeptical than most. If Boehner actually needed Rigell’s vote, he would have had it, IMO. More likely the congressman got a pass from the Speaker (e.g. Glenn Nye’s healthcare vote).
Interesting factoid: Rigell announced non-support of the new spending bill – before he read the bill? Hmm, where have I heard that before?
I don’t think this had anything to do with Speaker Boehner giving Rep. Rigell a pass. I am positive Rep. Rigell voted “no” out of principle and to keep his campaign promises. This just goes to show that Scott is one of few in Washington who truly understand our budget and debt situation.
Wrong vote at the wrong time.
Whitt, I hope you’re right. But it will take more than one very safe vote to convince this wary voter.
Dumb vote.
It would have been one thing to vote against paying the military if the Congressman was foregoing his own pay. That wasn’t the case.
I CAN see a commercial against him talking about how he voted to stop paychecks for the military and benefit checks for military retirees, knowing all the while that his own paycheck wouldn’t be affected.
Steve, it was the right vote for a conservative. Veering right and vote using brain = Tea Party support. I would have hammered Scott had he voted with the gop leadership.. And GOP leadership is a term which right now is an oxymoron.
Turbo- I can see your point. However, the 2nd remains the closest thing to a swing district in the incumbent protection plan that will probably end up creating the new districts. He’s got to appeal to more than just the Tea Party to win.
Steve, let’s not forget that Rigell did not get full backing of the Tea Partiers despite certain high profile Tea Partiers siding with him at the end. Your point could be used to say, he won’t be able to afford a Tea party split next time. I can tell you I didn’t vote for him. I didn’t vote on that race. i am betting Turbo voted for Golden considering he was helping his campaign.
I’ll tell you now, that despite my extreme displeasure at his vote on the Patriot Act, I’m liking him quite a bit more.
Look we’re up against the ropes. Big things must get done soon or we’re in for a lot more hurt than we would have experienced with a shutdown. We’re in debt past our eyeballs. We’ve already pretty much maxed out our ability to just print money without losing reserve status. That reserve status is what allowed us to get away with a whole lot of shady accounting, btw. You have commodities inflation, China, Russia and others looking for alternatives to the dollar. China is trying their best to dump our debt as fast as possible without doing great harm to their interests.
We’re not at “doomsday” yet, aggressive action shortly down the road might save us. However, all you guys screaming about a government shutdown and bemoaning all that result, just don’t get how bad it is going to get. We already have entire states on the brink of bankruptcy, places around the world no longer take the US dollar anymore. SOMETHING must be done soon! This is reality not partisan posturing. If the pains of a shut down would force things to be straightend, I would take it in a heartbeat.
Good job Scott Rigell!
Britt, now you have me curious. Who doesn’t accept our dollar anymore?
Iran, Afghanistan, n. Korea..? Cuba?
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