As House Budget Chairman Jim Nussle (R-IA) continues to push for an amendment to the budget resolution passed in April to institute an across the board cut to discretionary spending by 2 percent, many Republican members of the Senate have expressed reservations or outright disdain for such a plan, threatening its survival. While not ruling out any avenue for finding budget cuts to offset the cost of Hurricane Katrina relief and reconstruction spending, a number of key Senate Republicans criticized Nussle's proposal. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg's (R-NH) preference is to use the reconcilation process already in place to look for larger cuts to entitlement programs. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) called Nussle's proposal a "nonstarter," ruling out re-opening the budget resolution. And Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-AK) stated he opposes the proposal and believes a substantial majority of the Senate would also oppose it. Discretionary spending makes up only 26 percent of the total federal budget and Stevens believes it should not have to shoulder a disproportionate share of the cuts. Unfortunately, Congress has yet to realize the damage done by cutting investments in America to pay for Katrina costs will not only make communities and families around the country less secure, it will actually do very little to offset the cost of Katrina. It's time Congress realizes it needs to revisit the massive tax cuts for the wealthy if it wants to truly keep Katrina spending deficit neutral.

In a news conference yesterday, President Bush put pressure on Congress to pay for as much of the hurricane relief as possible by cutting spending. He urged that funding be cut in both non-defense discretionary spending and entitlement spending. His comments prompted House Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle (R-IA) to claim that he will seek even more cuts in entitlement expenditures than those laid out in April's budget resolution. Currently the resolution instructs that entitlement spending be cut by $35 million over the next five years. Nussle said in an interview that Gulf Coast reconstruction costs should be partly offset through across-the-board reductions in discretionary spending, beginning with a 2 percent "haircut" from the $843 billion agreed to under the FY06 budget." The Coalition on Human Needs has an analysis highlighting how those cuts will affect human needs programs. One has to wonder where these gestures of fiscal responsibility were when Congress passed trillions of dollars worth of tax cuts in 2001 and 2003, which were not offset by any spending cuts. That Congress also wants to push ahead with extending reduced rates for capital gains and dividends taxes -- tax breaks which benefit primarily the wealthy -- further serves to illustrate that these spending cuts could be avoided. Bush also asserted yesterday that even though Congress has a "diminished appetite" for overhauling Social Security, he has not taken the issue off the table. Bush said, "Social Security for me is never off. It's a long-term problem that's going to need to be addressed." However, the solutions he claimed to support a few months ago would lower guarenteed benefits and cost $700 billion over the next decade. Not exactly a great way to cut down federal spending.

Fiscal year 2005 ends this Friday, Sept. 30, and House and Senate Republican leaders have not been able to pass all spending bills for FY 2006 on the floor. Thus, we can expect them to pass a stop-gap funding bill to cover federal government spending by the end of the week. According to an aide, GOP leaders in both chambers will push through a CR to fund government programs through Nov. 18. While some believe this extension will give appropriators sufficient time to wrap up their work on the outstanding FY 2006 appropriations bills, others think GOP leaders will not make their ambitious goal to pass all of the bills as separate measures this year. While the House has passed all eleven of its spending bills, the Senate has only passed eight of twelve, and only two of those have been given final approval and sent to Bush for his signature.