Posted on 05/25/2012 5:34:15 PM PDT by SharpRightTurn
Few members of Congress have taken the task of cutting federal spending as personally as Rep. Paul Broun.
Whether it’s going after the USDA’s vehicle fleet or weeding out the budget for the U.S. Botanic Garden, the Georgia Republican has been all over it.
But for all the cries in the Republican House to tighten the money belt, Broun has gotten practically nowhere.
The vast majority of Broun’s attempts to trim this line item or that pet project have gone down — often in flames. Since the start of the 112th Congress, he has offered more than three dozen amendments. Three have passed.
The experience of Broun — a family physician turned two-term congressman — highlights the timeless chasm in Washington between the rhetoric and reality of cutting spending. It’s a lot easier to pick on a bloated federal government in the abstract than to do away with programs that inevitably have fans in Congress.
But that’s not stopping Broun from giving it the college try. An amendment Broun introduced last year to kill funding for a Department of Energy efficiency program failed 69-345. Cutting a chunk of a nutritional program for women and children? Defeated 64-360. The vote to cut the Botanic Garden budget was a little closer: 153-260.
For groups promoting an anti-spending agenda, Broun’s failed efforts are proof positive the 112th Congress still wants to spend big, even when lawmakers insist otherwise.
“This really exposes the true nature of this and every Congress essentially,” said Club for Growth President Chris Chocola. “The rhetoric rarely matches the actions. But it’s not wasted time; it exposes members for what they are when it comes to the opportunities to cut spending, and there’s value in that.”
The Club for Growth has been on the front lines of pushing lawmakers to reduce spending and promote “pro-growth policies” of limited government. According to the Club’s scorecard, Broun has a near-perfect 99 percent lifetime voting record.
“That’s about as good as it gets, and he’s the kind of guy we need if we are going to rein in the size and scope of government,” Chocola said. “We’re trying to build a majority of Paul Brouns.”
Broun said he is more than happy to take on the task, however futile it might be.
“We just have to stop the outrageous spending in Washington and stop spending money we don’t have,” he said. “I’m going to continue to offer amendments to do just that. … Hopefully some of them will pass, but we’ll keep offering them no matter what.”
Broun has a precise method to his waste-cutting agenda. He and his staff pore over appropriations bills, looking for items that could be axed. In the latest Commerce, Justice and Science appropriations bill, the amendment-happy Broun estimated he proposed about $4 billion in cuts.
Only one, a $181,500 cut to the Marine Mammal Commission, was approved.
Members of Broun’s party often speak out against his amendments. A core group of conservatives vote with him consistently, but others have said Broun’s efforts are at times duplicative, if not foolhardy.
When Broun introduced a proposal to reduce State and Private Forestry funding by 10 percent last year, Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) argued that the agency was already taking a big cut.
“While it’s easy to stand here and say, ‘It just reduces it by 10 percent. Who can’t stand a 10 percent reduction?’ I’d like to note that the State and Private Forestry program has already had a significant cut in this budget, … and despite its name, it is critical to managing the national forest system,” Simpson said on the House floor. “I understand the gentleman is standing on principle. So am I. I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment.”
And when Broun pitched an amendment to cut paychecks in government agencies such the Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI, Rep. Frank Wolf of Virginia took to the House floor in opposition.
Broun’s “heart is in the right place, and I think the whole concept of getting control of the budget is very important,” Wolf said. “But I rise in opposition.”
“I think what he’s trying to do is important, but I think this would be the wrong way to do it,” Wolf said, arguing the kind of cuts Broun proposed could weaken national security.
Failure has only motivated Broun more. The good news, he argued, is that there are more members voting consistently with him than in past years.
“I wish Congress was a whole lot more serious about cutting spending and cutting government,” Broun said in an interview. “We have a lot more people interested in making these spending cuts than we have in the previous two Congresses. We will do what the American people want us to do.”
Broun has taken full advantage of an open rule on big spending bills, which lets members introduce as many amendments as they want. The process, he said, has allowed lawmakers to best “represent the interests of their constituents and their states.”
The result is often long nights of debate and many votes as members demand a recorded vote if their legislation fails.
Only once during this Congress has Broun withdrawn one of his amendments. His proposal didn’t deal with spending directly: It would have prohibited using funds to carry out Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
Broun argued that Section 5 unfairly targeted certain states by requiring them to clear any changes to voting policies with the Justice Department.
Democrat Rep. John Lewis, a leader of the civil rights movement and fellow Georgian, railed against Broun’s amendment.
“It’s shameful that you would come here tonight and say to the Department of Justice that you must not use one penny, one cent, one dime, one dollar to carry out the mandate of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act,” Lewis said.
Broun — who has drawn fire in the past for saying President Barack Obama “believes in socialism” and accusing the president of trying to create a “Marxist dictatorship” — apologized to Lewis and withdrew the amendment.
“I apologize to my dear friend from Georgia if he’s gotten angry with this amendment. It was never my intent to do so,” Broun said. “I deplore discrimination of any kind.”
In a chamber in which the Republicans have a solid majority, it says a lot about that party that Broun only gets about 60-70 votes for his cost-cutting amendments.
Demicans (or, if you prefer, Republicrats): the parties of Big and Bigger.
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