Cut, Cap, and Balance passes the U.S. House: 234-190
By Shaun Kenney | Tuesday, July 19th, 2011 | PolicyRep. Morgan Griffith votes against CCB (most likely because of the implied debt ceiling increase). Still, the House Republicans have now drawn a line in the sand.
If Obama rejects the only plan that will pass the House and preserve America’s credit rating, it will now be his fault alone.
UPDATE: Dem yeas: Boren, Cooper, Matheson, McIntyre, Shuler
GOP nays: Bachmann, Broun, Canseco, DesJarlais, Griffith, Jones, Mack, Paul, Rohrabacher
Update: Griffith issues the following statement explaining his vote –
“I support the general goal of cut, cap, and balance, and I appreciate House leadership bringing this concept to the floor for a vote. However, to keep my commitments made to my constituents, I cannot support raising the debt ceiling without significant cuts and a substantial change to the way Washington spends taxpayer dollars. The Balanced Budget Amendment, if passed by the House and Senate and then by the States, would substantially change the way Washington spends money, but I have repeatedly stated that year one cuts must be more than $100-200 billion. While I realize House leadership has to work with a President who is late coming to the discussion, and who is not reasonable about the seriousness of the debt and deficit problem in this country, I could not turn my back on commitments made to my constituents. This plan would reduce spending by $111 billion next year. With the budget deficit this year predicted to reach nearly $1.5 trillion and a debt that has ballooned from $10.6 trillion just two years ago to $14.3 trillion now, we must cut more.
“To put these numbers into perspective, divide everything by $100 million. Suppose that a family has a total of $14,300 in credit card debt, and each year they add $1,500 in new debt to the card. Cutting $111 from this year’s new debt does not seem like enough to make a substantial difference.”
Statement from Rep. Scott Rigell:
“The current spending trajectory is unacceptable,” Rigell said. “Defaulting on the debt is also unacceptable,” Rigell said. “Now is the time for the nation to tackle this problem head on – not kick the can down the road. This legislation is an attempt to find a compromise, and I hope the Senate and the President can appreciate that.”
“With unemployment at 9.2%, we need to create an environment that reverses this dangerous trend,” Rigell said. “This legislation raises the debt ceiling while implementing real spending cuts and moving a balanced budget amendment forward – which will reduce the uncertainty that is hampering job growth.”
Rep. Robert Hurt:
“If we are serious about putting an end to the reckless government spending that has led to a $14 trillion debt, a $1.5 trillion deficit, and crippling economic uncertainty, we need to put in place both short and long term institutional spending reforms to change the culture in Washington and force the federal government to live within its means.
“Once again delivering on the message sent by Central and Southside Virginians last November to rein in out of control government spending, the House has passed commonsense legislation that implements immediate and significant spending cuts, puts in place enforceable caps that reduce spending as a percentage of GDP, and requires the passage of a balanced budget amendment.
“Washington has a spending problem. And while the Administration and Congressional Democrats continue to support the current spending status quo, the House will make the tough but necessary choices to reduce our debt and deficits, return certainty to the marketplace so that our job creators will have the confidence necessary to hire and expand, and preserve the American dream for our children and grandchildren.”
Rep. Randy Forbes:
“There comes a moment during the debate surrounding every crisis when even the shrill voices of the participants can no longer cloak the clearness of the choices that must be made. That moment has now arisen. No nation, business, or individual can long escape the pain of spending more than it makes. While today we feel the pain of past decisions, let us have the resolve to protect our nation’s future from the deception that comes with the belief that the principles of economic reason apply to everyone but ourselves.”
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About the author
Shaun Kenney is the Chairman of the Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors, former Communications Director for the Republican Party of Virginia, and an active blogger since 2002. Shaun lives in Thomas Jefferson's backyard with his wife, six children, and a modest attempt at a farm in Kents Store, Virginia.
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18 Responses to "Cut, Cap, and Balance passes the U.S. House: 234-190"
Bachmann voted no because it didn’t include a repeal of Obamacare.
Frankly, who cares? The House has become a bad joke with too many representatives with a governance IQ of zero. No one really cares about worthless votes; they are simply throw aways, perpetuating the view of most americans that politicians in Washington are not worth much because all they do is waste time. Fact is, the House majority seems to think they were elected as sovereigns, not as one house of congress that can do nothing by itself. The sooner they learn the art of compromise, the better we will be. But hey, they did take action on light bulbs. It isn’t all bad.
Since the bill isn’t expected to go anywhere in the Senate, precious time was wasted to pass a debt ceiling increase before Aug. 2. This is folly when facing to put the largest economy in the world at risk of default and further economic decline.
And even if the bill were to make it out of Congress, President Obama has promised to veto it.
Cut, Cap and Balance is a noble goal. But the measures in the bill, particularly the call for a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, are unlikely to be achieved.
The House accomplished nothing.
Given the public debt and the unfunded liabilities currently in place, the only two questions at this juncture are what kind of default will the US have and when will it happen? Of course there may be a smorgasbord of default variations that we experience together such as (hyper)inflation, legislative benefit/spending cuts, delaying payment and so on.
Maybe we need to research what happened when the late not so great Soviet Union was replaced by the CIS or the Russian Mafia. I haven’t seen any detailed analysis of exactly what level of economic growth, spending cuts and (for the benefit of our leftist friends) tax increases would be necessary to fund all liabilities within a balanced budget. If one exists I hope someone can point it out.(BTW I don’t mean balance the budget 30 years out as with the Ryan plan or in the 30th millennium as with the Dems.?
CC&B is a fiscal and political marker that passed with bi-partisan support and is the only legislation on the table. Nothing from the President… Nothing from the Senate but the 6-pack floating trial balloons to see how they play in the press… but the Democrats will vote CC&B down. As the day of reckoning approaches, Democrats, deluding themselves that they can still ride the popularity of the President by stonewalling and blaming Republicans, are unwittingly backing themselves into Grover Norquist’s corner where Obama/Geithner will have to finally make some draconian decisions about “drowning” some Government in the White House bathtub that won’t be too politically popular.
I am going to provide a link to a Washington Post article reporting on the results of a recent survey from which I am going to lift a few quotes:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/post-abc-news-poll-public-sees-dire-consequences-if-no-budget-deal/2011/07/19/gIQA4MQPOI_story.html?hpid=z1
Quoting:
“There is also growing dissatisfaction among Republicans with the hard-line stance of their congressional representatives: Fifty-eight percent say their leaders are not doing enough to strike a deal, up from 42 percent in March.”
“While Republicans in Congress have remained united in their opposition to any tax increases, the poll finds GOP majorities favoring some of the specific changes advocated by the president, including higher income tax rates for the wealthiest Americans.”
“More than three-quarters of Americans say the Republican leadership is too averse to compromise on the deficit.”
I encourage everyone to read the entire link because I was cherry picking. The article also states there is dissatisfaction with Democrats for being unwilling to compromise, although the blame for the current impasse does seem to be weighted towards the Republicans.
As an example for where the public puts the blame, I will add this quote:
“In the new poll, fully 50 percent of conservative Republicans and ‘strong’ tea party supporters say the GOP leadership is too unwilling to make a deal on the deficit.”
The entire argument has been reduced to one issue – Taxes and how they will be raised. I would say that the House Republicans have done their due diligence and it is now time to let the Dems and the President continue our economic death spiral by raising taxes on all of the $250,000 and above “wealthy, millionaires and billionaires” and raise the $2.5T debt ceiling.
The academic exercises using manufactured polling data and who has the better numbers won’t matter as the “trickle down” consequences of ratings downgrades, unemployment, historic numbers of small business, mass defections of large business from the US and 50% or more losses in 401K, IRA and retirement plans will drive historic numbers of angry voters to peel apart both parties starting with the President.
Yes, by all means let’s poll the average American to find out what they think about the debt ceiling. After all, a poll by CNN showed that 64% of respondents said that aliens have contacted humans, half said that aliens have abducted humans, and 37% said that aliens have contacted the U.S. government. 7% of respondents have either been abducted by aliens or know someone who has been abducted.
Wow Tim J, you are really taking this hard. While the world celebrates, while americans welcome the avoidance of default, recession, higher unemployment, higher interest rates, more foreclosures, cuts in state and local government, you seem depressed. Could it be that all along, this Cantor/Tea Party thing was really just about embarrassing the President so those wings nuts could elect a new majority in both Houses and capture the White House? Would you really pay that price to improve their electoral chances? Clearly, most americans would not.
Nah Mike, on a hot afternoon just wanted to throw a little red meat out there to see if you would bite. You and your Dem buds must be getting nervous since the President is talking about a “short term deal” on the debt extension where he pronounced a couple of days ago “a 30, 60, 60 or 120 extension would never, never happen”. The Republicans are controlling the conversation… it’s all about deficit and debt reduction at this point and nothing about spending and revenue. Now, that may change if the RINOs in the 6-pack get some traction.
Let’s just say I don’t see it that way. There will be bumps in the road as each Party is required to give up something important to their base. But what I see happening on the right is the re-emergence of actual republicans who have seen what selling out to the far right and tea party has done; that is, in a few short weeks, totally changed the equation as the far right simply over reached and lost the middle. That will not only doom the House to irrelevancy but it will change the tone of the election, come close to guaranteeing the re-election of the President if he can hold on to the middle ground, and more than anything, allow this nation to get back to investment, job creation, and prosperity. I’m looking forward to it.
Yes, I agree, “this nation to get back to investment, job creation, and prosperity” but it just isn’t gonna happen your way. By the way, the House can’t become irrelevant unless some of you got together and penciled in some corrections to the Constitution that have somehow sneaked by the rest of us.
Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.
News from the EU / Greek / Italian / Spanish / Irish / Portuguese debt crisis: Draft EU summit conclusions call for “Marshall plan of investment, growth stimulation for Greek economy.
Investment and growth stimulation. Where have I heard that before? Lolz.
Tyler Durden at Zerohedge has documented how the European Financial Stability Fund is itself nothing more than a CDO and, as such, is inherently unstable itself. Stupid (or desperate) is as stupid does.
This is a perfect illustration of the point: the so-called financial “authorities” cannot do nothing, even when nothing is the least damaging thing to do, because to do nothing would be to admit their incompetence to manage the economy. So they lever up ever more, trying to forestall the inevitable, and in so doing they guarantee that the final collapse will be even more painful, as it will come from a higher height.
So let’s convert Europe into one giant equity tranche, and while we’re at it, can’t we do the same thing here?
Jamie,
The Marshall plan was a success wasn’t it?
What, the EU should do nothing and just wait and see what happens?
Isn’t that what Hoover tried and we here in America ended up with the Great Depression?
Yes, and that is why they are using the name. The name is where the similarity ends.
Banks have been failing for thousands of years. Civilization continues. The EU, and the U.S., should have allowed the banks to fail; bondholders would have become holders of (worthless) equity. People who loaned banks money, or who sold credit insurance (CDS) on the banks, should have taken their haircuts instead of being bailed out by the taxpayers. Screw the damned banks. I’m sick of the banks, too-big-to-fail, guaranteed profitability at the taxpayers’ expense business model. Did I already say Screw the banks?
Iceland is showing the world the way forward. Refuse as a nation to pay off bad bank debt. Arrest and prosecute bank executives for obvious fraud. Iceland took a huge hit and is now recovering. Meanwhile we zombify our banks and languish in high unemployment, recession, and record numbers of people on food stamps, and we have resolved NOTHING. All of the original problems remain. How can we move forward when we are held back in/by the past?
LD,
You really should read more history. The idea that Hoover did nothing is something out of the DNC and Media Matters history books. He increased spending, scuttled free trade (obama applauds) and tried to do some other things which might have been more constructive but was repeatedly blocked by the Democratic Congress. I excuse you because the public schools are what they are.
valentnus,
Herbert Hoover opposed relief to the unemployed while the unemployment rate reached 24.9% while he was in office. One of the few things he did was sign into law the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act and we know how that turned out do we not?
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