One of the most interesting votes last week in the House on GOP budget cutting plans was when more conservative Republicans pushed $22 billion in extra cuts - and 92 GOP lawmakers voted against that plan.
It was yet another reminder in the halls of Congress that lots of people talk big about making budget cuts, but taking the extra step to do that doesn't always happen.
Who were the Republican 92? A number of them were newly-elected lawmakers, who made a big deal about cutting spending in their election campaigns. By my count, there were almost two dozen freshmen who voted 'No.'
Many were members of the Appropriations Committee, whose job it is to put together spending bills - in fact, 22 of the 29 GOP members of that panel voted against the cuts that were put forward by Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH).
And many of those on the Appropriations panel made clear they thought this across-the-board cutting plan was useless. A "waste of time," said former panel Chair Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA).
"Lazy," declared Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA), a GOP veteran who is chairman of the House Administration Committee. He was worried about deeper cuts to security for lawmakers in the wake of the shooting attack on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ).
Several other committee chairs joined in voting 'No,' as most senior Republicans went against the extra cuts - including the House Majority Whip Rep Eric Cantor (R-VA) and his top lieutenant, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).
Yes, that would be the number two and number three Republicans in the House.
So, why did these 92 Republicans vote 'No' on the Blackburn amendment? Most of them would probably chalk it up to the across-the-board nature of the proposed cuts, which might have hit programs they support.
For example, there are two lawmakers from Central Florida who have a big interest in NASA. They both were against this budget cut plan, as were 4 of 6 Republicans from Alabama and several GOP'ers from Texas.
One other note from last week's budget debate - when the week began, the GOP bill had $60.8 billion in cuts. When the week ended, that number was just over $61.4 billion.
In other words, not much in savings was added after 4 long days of debate.
For your review, here are the 92 Republicans who voted against an additional $22 billion in savings last week:
* Rep. Sandy Adams (R-FL) - freshman elected with Tea Party support
* Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL) - member of the Appropriations Committee
* Rep. Rodeny Alexander (R-LA) - had a Tea Party opponent in 2010
* Rep. Lou Barletta (R-PA) - another freshman 'No' vote
* Rep. Charlie Bass (R-NH) - veteran GOP lawmaker
* Rep. Rick Berg (R-ND) - another freshman votes no
* Rep. Judy Biggert (R-IL) - just an hour before the vote, Biggert was on the floor arguing for deeper cuts
* Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-CA) - veteran California Republican
* Rep. Jo Bonner (R-AL) - four of six Alabama Republicans voted 'No' on this plan
* Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) - Appropriations Committee member
* Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI) - Chairman of the Ways & Means Committee
* Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) - The House Majority Leader
* Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) - Sometimes called a RINO
* Rep. John Carter (R=TX) - he says President Obama "cuts too little"
* Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) - second term Republican
* Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) - another Appropriations Committee member
* Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-MN) - another freshman 'No' vote
* Rep. Rick Crawford (R-AR) - another freshman 'No' vote
* Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-FL) - Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman
* Rep. John Culberson (R-TX) - called Obama budget "failure of leadership"
* Rep. Jeff Denham (R-CA) - yet another freshman 'No' vote
* Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA) - often criticized as a RINO
* Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) - Appropriations Committee member
* Rep. Robert Dold (R-IL) - freshman says he's not a Tea Party supporter
* Rep. David Dreier (R-CA) - Chairman of the House Rules Committee
* Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) - another freshman 'No' vote
* Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO) - Appropriations Committee member
* Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) - in his fourth term
* Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) - Appropriations member
* Rep. Chris Gibson (R-NY) - another freshman 'No' vote
* Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) - veteran lawmaker from Georgia
* Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX) - Appropriations Committee member
* Rep. Michael Grimm (R-NY) - freshman described as "Tea Party darling"
* Rep. Richard Hanna (R-NY) - another freshman 'No' vote
* Rep. Gregg Harper (R-MS) - All three MS GOP'ers voted 'No' on this
* Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA) - Chairs Natural Resources Committee
* Rep. Joe Heck (R-NV) - another freshman 'No' vote
* Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) - another frosh 'No'
* Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) - Chairs Oversight Committee
* Rep. Tim Johnson (R-IL) - more moderate GOP lawmaker
* Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) - voted against the whole bill
* Rep. Peter King (R-NY) - Chairs Homeland Security Committee
* Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) - Appropriatons Subcommitte chairman
* Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) - Tea Party favortie picked for GOP transition in House
* Rep. John Kline (R-MN) - Chairs House Education Committee
* Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ) - seen as too moderate by some
* Rep. Tom Latham (R-IA) - Appropriations subcommittee chairman
* Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) - Former Chair of Appropriations Committee
* Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ) - veteran Republican from Jersey
* Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK) - Chairs House Agriculture Committee
* Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA) - Chairs House Administration Committee
* Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) - House Majority Whip
* Rep. Buck McKeon (R-CA) - Chairs House Armed Services Committee
* Rep. David McKinley (R-WV) - Tea Party freshman favorite from WV
* Rep. Pat Meehan (R-PA) - another freshman 'No' vote
* Rep. Candice Miller (R-MI) - veteran Michigan GOP'er
* Rep. Kristi Noem (R-SD) - freshman Tea Party favorite from South Dakota
* Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) - a defender of the Tea Party
* Rep. Alan Nunnelee (R-MS) - Appropriations Committee member
* Rep. Pete Olson (R-TX) - another freshman 'No' vote
* Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-MS) - another Mississippi 'No' vote
* Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-MN) - another freshman 'No' vote
* Rep. Tom Petri (R-WI) - veteran GOP lawmaker
* Rep. Tom Posey (R-FL) - self-described budget conservative, except on NASA
* Rep. Dave Reichert (R-WA) - veteran GOP'er in swing districtd
* Rep. David Rivera (R-FL) - another freshman 'No' vote
* Rep. Martha Roby (R-AL) - another freshman 'No' vote from Alabama
* Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) - another Alabama 'No' vote
* Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY) - Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee
* Rep. Tom Rooney (R-FL) - pushed F-35 engine cut
* Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) - Chairs Foreign Affairs Committee
* Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL) - has been highly critical of Obama spending
* Rep. Jon Runyan (R-NJ) - another freshman 'No' vote
* Rep. Bobby Schilling (R-IL) - another Tea Party 'No' vote
* Rep. Adam Schock (R-IL) - another Illinois 'No' vote
* Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) - veteran Republican
* Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA) - another veteran Republican
* Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID) - Appropriations subcommittee chair
* Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) - another New Jersey 'No' vote
* Rep. Steve Stivers (R-OH) - another freshamn 'No' vote
* Rep. John Sullivan (R-OK) - supports big cuts in budget
* Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE) - 2 of 3 Nebraska GOP voted 'No'
* Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA) - accused of being a RINO
* Rep. Scott Tipton (R-AZ) - another freshman 'No' vote
* Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) - Chairs Energy & Commerce Committee
* Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) - key member of GOP transition
* Rep. Allen West (R-FL) - big Tea Party freshman favorite
* Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) - veteran Georgia lawmaker
* Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) - Appropriations subcommittee chairman
* Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR) - another freshman 'No' vote
* Rep. Don Young (R-AK) - longtime GOP lawmaker
* Rep. Bill Young (R-FL) - longtime Appropriations committee member
It should be noted that 91 of the 92 voted for final approval of the budget cutting bill. The only overall 'No' vote from this group was by Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC).
Two other Republicans did vote against the bill, both because they wanted more cuts, Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Rep. John Campbell (R-CA).
No Democrats voted for the final bill.
One of the most interesting votes last week in the House on GOP budget cutting plans was when more conservative Republicans pushed $22 billion in extra cuts - and 92 GOP lawmakers voted against that plan.It was yet another reminder in the halls of Congress that lots of people talk ...
