The Great Republican Sellout of 2011

In the November 2010 election, many conservatives were
elected to Congress. One of the key promises of these
was their Pledge to America. One promise was a $100B
spending cut. This was done with H.R. 1 but was not
considered by the Senate.
For years the Federal Government is being run on a
series of Continuing Resolutions. Because all
appropriations bills must originate in the House of
Representatives, the 2011 Republican-majority House had
a golden opportunity to force the Federal government to
cut profligate spending. Each time the President and the
Senate allowed a “crisis” to occur before a “compromise”
was passed. The spring compromise resulted in spending
“cuts” of only $35B. Most of these were non-recurring
costs like the Census, so the real cuts were about $352M
from a budget of $3,800,000M. Conservatives were sold
out by Speaker Boehner and Majority Leader Cantor.
Another golden opportunity for real cuts was the
“requirement” to raise the debt ceiling. This need was
again allowed to escalate to a “crisis”, and the credit
rating of the United States of America received a negative
warning and then a downgrade. Conservatives were again
sold out by Speaker Boehner and Majority Leader Cantor.
An immediate increase to debt ceiling of $1T was countered
with “promises to cut spending” to be determined later
(after Thanksgiving) by a “super-committee.”
The President had already formed the 2010 National
Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform which
published their extensive report in December 2010. Few if
any recommendations from the 8-month study have been
implemented.
Since Congress has failed again to agree on a budget,
another Continuing Resolution has now been passed to fund
the Federal Government into FY2012. No meaningful spending
cuts were made. The House of Representatives vote was a
voice vote. Conservatives were again sold out by Speaker
Boehner and Majority Leader Cantor.