GOP House Would Cut All Budgets But Its Own, Leading To Massive Layoffs And Hurting The Poor

The Republican-controlled House wants to reduce government agencies by 9% on average, but wants to leave itS own budget statistically static, with a 2% cut.

If that plan becomes law, it could lead to layoffs of tens of thousands of federal employees, big cuts to heating and housing subsidies for the poor, reduced grants to schools and law enforcement agencies, and a major hit to the Internal Revenue Service’s budget.

Congress, on the other hand, would get nicked by only 2 percent, or $94 million.

Recent hefty increases to the congressional budget — engineered by Democrats when they held power in the House from 2007-2010 — would remain largely in place under a plan announced Thursday by the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky.

These numbers reflect cuts for the seven months left in the current budget year. Cuts for the entire calendar year would be 3.5% for Congress’s own budget, but 16% for other agencies. While Speaker John Boehner’s office says Congress’s cuts are unprecedented, it’s not true. When Newt Gingrich was speaker Congress cut its budget by 8%.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.