Boehner, Republicans Plan $100 Billion Budget Rollback

Incoming House Speaker John Boehner and his new tea-party fueled colleagues are laying the groundwork for what would be, in absolute terms, the largest reduction ever in federal discretionary spending.

During the recent midterm elections campaign, Republican leaders pledged to reduce non-entitlement spending by a whopping $100 billion.

Doing so would effectively roll back the federal government’s non-entitlement spending to 2008 levels, budget experts tell Newsmax.

“I’m here tonight to tell you that our new majority will be prepared to do things differently,” Boehner declared after the elections, “to take a new approach that hasn’t been tried before in Washington by either party. It starts with cutting spending instead of increasing it. … Reducing the size of government instead of expanding it.”

Democratic leaders, keenly aware that budget cutting will draw bitter opposition from special-interest groups, seem almost amused by the “rollback to 2008” mantra that Boehner and the freshman GOP members of Congress have enthusiastically embraced. The newly re-elected leader of House Democrats, Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday she welcomes Republican proposals.

But Pelosi’s openness figures to change once the 112th Congress gets down to business. Experts on the federal budgeting process tell Newsmax there is little doubt that Republicans will move quickly to trim federal spending.

“The Republican leadership has committed to this $100 billion cut,” says Brian Riedl, lead budget analyst for the Heritage Foundation. “I expect them to do everything in their power to enact it. They’re on the record, they ran on this, and if it’s brushed aside there would be harsh political consequences.”

In fact, some Republicans want much deeper cuts. Outgoing Florida Republican Sen. George LeMieux tells Newsmax that he will introduce legislation in the lame-duck session to roll back all federal spending, including entitlements, to 2007 levels.

Doing so, he says, would balance the budget by 2013.

“And it doesn’t seem like that should be that hard to do,” LeMieux tells Newsmax. “Were things really so bad with the way the government was providing services just three years ago? … let’s go back, let’s cap all spending. That will make Congress do its job.”

No one expects LeMieux’s initiative to be much more than symbolic. But in the soon-to-be GOP-controlled House, the budget cutting fervor is palpable.     
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