WASHINGTON -- House Republicans are seeking to avert steep Pentagon cuts -- born out of a failed bipartisan effort last year to tame rising budget deficits -- with a bill that targets domestic programs instead.
A vote on the bill Thursday is likely to be a party-line affair, as the approach has drawn scorn from Democrats in Georgia and elsewhere. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid indicated in a strong attack Wednesday that the effort will not advance in the Democratic-controlled upper chamber.
“It’s absolutely frustrating,” said Rep. Austin Scott, a Republican from Tifton. “Whether they agree with our solutions or not, at least we’re putting forward solutions and passing them.”
Democrats have seen myriad efforts to stem cuts by increasing revenue blocked by Republicans, many of whom have signed a pledge not to raise taxes in any form. Democrats have rejected a cuts-only approach to reducing deficits, leaving both parties looking to the November election to put them in complete control.
The bill up for a vote Thursday would save about $310 billion over 10 years and is designed to help offset a scheduled $550 billion cut to the Defense Department that was set in motion by last year's failure of the bipartisan deficit-reduction “supercommittee.” The defense cuts, combined with corresponding cuts to domestic programs, were designed as a distasteful penalty to spur action by the supercommittee.
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, who already is instituting $450 billion in budget cuts, has warned that the additional cuts would cause profound problems for the military, from troop readiness to weapons systems such as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter -- which is produced in part at Lockheed Martin’s plant in Marietta. These fears have prompted frenzied efforts to avoid the “sequestration” cuts, which are scheduled to begin in January.
“We’re cutting into the muscle and in some areas we’re getting down to the bone, and so we don’t need to make those types of severe cuts right now in the state the world is in,” said Republican Rep. Lynn Westmoreland of Coweta County.
Defense cuts also would have particular impact on Georgia, home to several large military bases.
So House GOP leaders directed committees to find cuts to domestic programs, with Democrats objecting all along the way. Some of the changes are long-sought Republican objectives such as overhauling the medical malpractice system. Others hit safety net programs such as the food stamps program, which has grown dramatically during the recession. The bill also dismantles pieces of controversial legislation Democrats passed in 2010 on health care and financial regulation.
Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson of DeKalb County, who serves on the Armed Forces Committee, said he agrees that the defense cuts are too severe -- but he would rather see them offset by closing tax loopholes for corporations and wealthy individuals.
Johnson accused Republicans of “trying to cut our debt on the backs of poor people and working Americans who are just barely getting by.”
Rep. David Scott, an Atlanta Democrat, predicted a public revolt against the House bill.
“I think this election is coming at the right time,” he said.
Republicans pointed to the election as a prime reason Reid will not act. In a floor speech Wednesday, Reid said, “Democrats won’t agree to a one-sided solution that lets the superwealthy off the hook while forcing the middle class and those in greatest need to bear all the hardship.” He has declined even to bring most House Republican proposals up for a vote, as they would put many vulnerable Democrats in a difficult spot.
“He’s not going to make his guys and gals take any tough votes,” said Rep. Phil Gingrey, a Marietta Republican. “... We’ll see how it turns out politically, but from a policy perspective, that’s why we get paid the big bucks up here. We have to take the tough votes.”
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