We Got 'er Done, Turns Into Not Even Close: Republicans Fall Short of $100 Billion in Cuts

House Republicans are going to cut less than two percent of the budget. They are trying to sell this to the American people as progress and as massive spending cuts. As well, the $100 billion that they promised us, and went to CPAC claiming was a done deal, appears now to be only $61 billion in spending cuts. Hey Billy Long, what happened to the other $39 billion you promised us?

It's obvious to me the Republicans promised meager budget cuts before last November, and they don't have the backbone to actually make serious cuts. This is why this number has dropped by $39 billion in just a week. Of course, we had some foresight in Southwest Missouri in Sunday's Springfield News-Leader when Congressman Billy Long mistook himself for Larry the Cable Guy and said "we got 'er done" and then said he's not sure he is going to back all the cuts like subsidies to airlines to cover smaller markets. Of course this is the result--$39 billion less in cuts according to the Washington Post.

With hundreds of amendments still on the docket, House GOP leaders abandoned their initial goal of finishing the government funding bill by mid-afternoon Thursday. Instead, lawmakers debated until just after 1 a.m. Friday - their third consecutive session to go beyond midnight - and plan to vote Friday on a spending package that would trim $61 billion in agency budgets for the final seven months of 2011.

I guess the reality of this is if the Republicans are having problems cutting less than two percent of the budget, then we have more problems than can be fixed by any election as long as we continue to vote for one of the two parties.