The Lee-Toomey Act accomplishes the following:
* Cuts non-defense discretionary spending by $435 billion (a $142 billion cut),
* Enacts a spending cap,
* Requires SJ Res 10 (one of the four Balanced Budget Amendments) to be passed before a debt ceiling increase is passed.
The legislation is supported by some of the more conservative members of the U.S. Senate — DeMint, Rubio, Paul, Lee, and Coburn — but is already being decried by Tea Party and other organizations as not ambitious enough, or worse a cave-in.
No word from any of the Virginia U.S. Senate candidates on where they stand on the deal.
U.S. Senate candidate David McCormick is the first Virginia candidate out with a response.
“Reduced spending and a balanced budget amendment are long overdue, and the direction Congress needs to go. I introduced my own budget proposal on May 18th due to my unending resolve to balance the budget within a short period of time (6 years), to put forth a plan that pays off the entire federal debt (22 years), and to address the problems with entitlement programs immediately. None of the budgets coming from Washington legislators do this and that is unacceptable.
As a nation we have a moral duty and obligation to pay our debt, period. If the Lee-Toomey plan does not allow for the debt ceiling to be raised without the passage of a balanced budget, I cannot in good faith support it. I would hope that the Republicans would consider a small debt increase to fund our debt obligations while the 2012 budget is being negotiated. It is of the utmost importance we take back the Senate in 2012 and never allow the progressives and liberals to control any of the budget process.”
Other responses will be listed as they arrive! Meanwhile, 20 Senate Democrats support the BBA… or at least, they used to:
UPDATE: U.S. Senate Candidate Timothy Donner issued a statement as well:
With the deadline approaching for raising the debt ceiling, I have enthusiastically signed the recently introduced Cut, Cap and Balance pledge and am urging Sens. Warner & Webb to follow suit. And while multiple proposals related to this pledge have been introduced, I am proposing a single constitutional amendment that would address all three elements of the pledge.
My proposal is for a cap and balance constitutional amendment limiting the size of the federal budget to its historic average of 18% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and requiring a balanced budget. This would force permanent change in the way Washington does business. The size of the federal budget would be based on the size of the US economy, hard decisions on spending would be required, and expenditures would not exceed revenues. It is important to distinguish this proposal from the frequently proposed constitutional amendment requiring only a balanced budget. Such an amendment does not limit the size of federal budgets, and could well backfire by requiring tax increases to bring revenues and expenditures into balance.
This cap and balance constitutional amendment is a cornerstone of our campaign to bring permanent, structural change that will strictly limit the ability of Congress to expand in size and scope and continue its out-of-control spending and unsustainable deficits.
Donner breaks out with a fifth Balanced Budget Amendment proposal! Let’s see if Congress listens.
