Republican Billy Long has been speaking Larry the Cable Guy lingo to describe his efforts in getting the $100 billion in cuts accomplished, and truth be told, stealing a line from the backwoods comedian is probably all Congressman Long contributed to the conversation.
We worked all day yesterday, we had meeting after meeting, to get this $100 billion we promised we would cut," Long told a Slate reporter Thursday night at a convention of conservative activists in Washington. "As Larry the Cable Guy would say, we got 'er done. Trouble is, $100 billion is like throwing a deck chair off the Titanic, so we've got to work harder."
But further analysis makes me question if Republicans have truly come up with and decided on $100 billion or if they just needed some CPAC pathos for the bad press they have received about lallygagging with these cuts in the first place. Remember, this number was stuck at $32 billion for a long time, a number that left Republican Senator Rand Paul scratching his head as he was yelling look at me, I have half a trillion in budget cuts ready to go.
The Springfield News-Leader lists some of the cuts that are proposed in the Republicans $100 billion meager cuts. They include money for state and local law enforcement and the COPS program, community health centers, a nutrition program for pregnant women and children under age 5, heating assistance for the poor and funding for the arts. Of course the federal government has no Constitutional authority to spending a dime on any of these programs, and knowing there are so many other programs out there like this, I am puzzled why it was so hard for the GOP to come up with this list.
Oh but wait a minute, there is the question like are House members really committed to doing this, a question that comes from Long's own waffling. Long has taken hits from the Joplin community after he announced he would support cutting federal subsidies to airlines that serve smaller towns like Joplin Missouri. The Joplin Globe and a few liberal bloggers hit Long hard, and perhaps this is why Long doesn't seem so sure about cutting the airline subsidies anymore. I always knew Billy Long didn't have the backbone to make the tough decisions in Congress. From the News-Leader:
An equally long list from the conservative Republican Study Committee, of which Long is a member, proposes cutting Essential Air Service, the federal program that pays airlines to serve more than 150 remote communities, including several in southwest Missouri.
Past efforts to ground EAS have come from presidents who proposed scaling back or eliminating the program as part of an attempt to cut what they see as wasteful federal spending. Those efforts have been rebuffed by lawmakers who represent rural America and view air service to their constituents as a necessity.
But the proposal this time is coming from members of Congress, many from rural areas, who ran on a promise to cut government spending and rein in the soaring national debt. And even those who have vigorously defended EAS in the past say that in this fiscal climate, everything that reduces the size of government must be considered....
...EAS serves 154 communities in 35 states and Puerto Rico. Missouri has four communities served by airlines that collectively receive more than $6.3 million in federal subsidies per year: Fort Leonard Wood, Joplin, Cape Girardeau and Kirksville.
The annual cost of the program is about $200 million. The Republican Study Committee is proposing to cut the program by $150 million.
Long declined to say whether he would support a cut to the Essential Air Service Program, saying the details for that cut are being drafted.
"Until we have more hearings and know what will or won't be included, it's too early to speculate," Long said.
More hearings? I thought Mr. Long said, "we got 'er done" but contradicts himself saying he's not sure and we need to have more hearings before he agrees to these cuts. What is Mr. Long did you "get 'er done" or are you unsure you want to make these cuts? You don't sound fed up at all anymore. You just sound confused. Come back home and do what you do best--auctions. You obviously don't have the backbone to make the cuts neeeded at this time.
