Washington, DC – The budget deal crafted by Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) won bipartisan approval yesterday on a 332-94 vote in the U.S. House with an equal number of Republican and Democratic supporters.
Numerous conservative organizations have spoken out about the bill such as Americans for Prosperity, Club for Growth and Heritage Action, but their advocacy against the budget deal prompted a strong reaction from House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH).
“They are misleading their followers,” Boehner said yesterday at a Capitol Hill news conference. “They are pushing our members in places they don’t want to be. And frankly, I just think they’ve lost all credibility.”
Heritage Action has stated that the budget deal vote will be on their scorecard.
While the budget deal enjoyed bipartisan support in the House it faces stiff opposition from Senate Republicans. Not one member of the Republican caucus has come forward in support of the deal.
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) said he can’t support the budget deal because it moves in the wrong direction.
“The new budget deal moves in the wrong direction: it spends more, taxes more, and allows continued funding for Obamacare. I cannot support it,” Cruz said.
“Under the sequester, Congress took a small step forward by reducing spending by 2.4 percent. We should increase that number while protecting the military from disproportionate cuts. Instead, this proposal undoes the sequester’s modest reforms and pushes us two steps back, deeper into debt. Supporters of this plan are asking for more spending now in exchange for minor changes that may possibly reduce spending later. That may be a fine deal for Washington, but it’s not for the American people,” Cruz added.
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) also spoke out against the budget deal. “There is a recurring theme in Washington budget negotiations. It’s I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today. I think it’s a huge mistake to trade sequester cuts now, for the promise of cuts later,” Sen. Paul said. “The small sequester spending cuts were not nearly enough to address our deficit problem. Undoing tens of billions of this modest spending restraint is shameful and must be opposed. I cannot support a budget that raises taxes and never balances, nor can I support a deal that does nothing to reduce our nation’s $17.3 trillion debt,” Paul said.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) pledged opposition to the bill as it moves to the Senate.
Iowa’s House Congressional delegation split 3 to 1 voting in favor of the measure. Congressmen Bruce Braley (D-IA), Tom Latham (R-IA) and Dave Loebsack (D-IA) voted in favor of the budget agreement. Congressman Steve King (R-IA) was the lone no vote from Iowa.
Americans for Prosperity-Iowa State Director, responded to yesterday’s vote. “Congressman King continues to be a leader on fiscal responsibility. His tough vote reflects that he understands Washington has a spending problem. Congressman Latham has enabled Washington to break another promise to the American people to cut spending. Promising cuts 10 years from now is laughable and disingenuous. Congress broke their promise of reducing spending that was made merely 2 years ago. We demand cuts now.”
Two U.S. Senate candidates in Iowa also expressed their opposition to the the budget deal.
“Caving by allowing the automatic sequester spending cuts to be reduced in this budget deal is sending our country in the wrong direction,” said Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sam Clovis. “The structure of the deal may avoid a pending government shutdown but it does nothing to deal with our ever-increasing debt. This ‘budget compromise’ raises taxes, does not curb spending, nor does it help our overall economy. This is a horrible deal, and as usual, the politicians in Washington do not seem to be connected to the real world.”
Matt Whitaker said if he were in the U.S. Senate he would vote against the budget deal. “The proposal only continues to mortgage our children’s futures – it does nothing to rein in out of control spending and increasing debts and deficits; it does nothing to reduce the expansion of a bloated federal government; it does nothing to jump start our economy and put Americans back to work,” Whtaker said. “This continues to be business as usual for Washington politicians. No one willing to make the tough choices and show true leadership.”
Photo credit: Ron Cogswell via Flickr (CC-By-2.0)