Do you have a question for House conservatives?
posted at 11:21 am on July 19, 2012 by Rob Bluey
House conservatives gather this morning to take your questions about taxes, sequestration and a range of other issues facing Congress in the coming weeks and months. It’s your opportunity to be heard on Capitol Hill. Submit a question in the comments below.
Conversations with Conservatives runs from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET today. You can watch it below and also follow the action on Twitter (hashtag #CWC112) or Facebook. I’ll have the privilege of moderating.
Today’s gathering comes as lawmakers grapple with the major challenges heading into the upcoming August recess and beyond. With the Bush-era tax cuts expiring, Medicare payments to doctors ending, sequestration looming and the debt-ceiling possibly rising, there’s a lot at stake in the next six months. Add to that unfinished appropriations bills, which might not be done by Election Day or later.
Lawmakers also face a Sept. 30 deadline to fund the government. A trio of Republican senators called on the House GOP to remove the threat of a government shutdown during the lame-duck session of Congress. Sens. Jim DeMint (R-SC), Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) want action before the August recess to fund the government through early next year. Otherwise, they warn of Democrat mischief during the lame-duck session:
During that time, under the gloomy cloud of yet another government shutdown, members of Congress who lose in the 2012 elections can freely vote to raise taxes, increase spending, pass international treaties, increase the debt limit and gut national defense. They will never have to answer to voters again.
These important issues should not be decided in panicked moments. And it would be a complete disservice to the public if we chose to let an old Congress, completely unaccountable to voters, determine the major issues of our day.
We cannot give Reid this chance. Let us repeat: House Republicans need to pass the plan to keep the government funded through 2013 before the August recess.
Conversations with Conservatives is chaired by Reps. Raúl Labrador (R-ID), Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) and Jeff Landry (R-LA). Reps. Justin Amash (R-MI), Ann Marie Buerkle (R-NY), Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Steve King (R-IA) and Ted Poe (R-TX) are also expected to attend.
The monthly event launched in March with the goal of giving free-market and liberty-minded members of Congress a greater voice on Capitol Hill. Members field questions from journalists and bloggers on Capitol Hill as well as an online audience.
Rob Bluey directs the Center for Media and Public Policy, an investigative journalism operation at The Heritage Foundation. Follow him on Twitter: @RobertBluey
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Liars – the gov’t began this process last year.
Schadenfreude on May 13, 2013 at 7:33 PM
They did this last summer.
Schadenfreude on May 13, 2013 at 7:34 PM
Simply disband the Bureau of Indian Affairs. They are worthless and have done little to protect Native Americans.
originalpechanga on May 13, 2013 at 7:34 PM
Hey Obama Admin, yeah, probably not a great time to do the sequestration fear mongering with Scandalpalooza going on and all.
kerrhome on May 13, 2013 at 7:34 PM
The obvious intent of this government to harm people for Obama’s gain is just plain wrong.
CW on May 13, 2013 at 7:35 PM
Hard to believe that 3% of the budget paid for so many vital services.
myiq2xu on May 13, 2013 at 7:35 PM
Obama will make sure any cuts are to vital organs of the government, not irrelevant, ineffectual, redundant bureaucratic appendixes.
His aim is pain.
profitsbeard on May 13, 2013 at 7:35 PM
Only the average Obama vote would.
CW on May 13, 2013 at 7:38 PM
Oh well – it was all obama’s idea – let it BURN (literally) – while obama continues to golf, and vacation, and party, and fiddle.
Pork-Chop on May 13, 2013 at 7:40 PM
Well y’know – maybe if they cut back on the IRS spying on Americans and leaking that information (for personal profit) to political organizations and paying for fake investigations into you tube videos the state would have more money…
Skywise on May 13, 2013 at 7:42 PM
Wait just a second here. Who the hell is Sally Jewel? And when did she replace Ken Salazar?
Key West Reader on May 13, 2013 at 7:43 PM
*voter
CW on May 13, 2013 at 7:44 PM
When was Sally Jewel appointed, who confirmed her and when did this take place?
/Just a dumb country bumpkin lookin for info
Key West Reader on May 13, 2013 at 7:45 PM
Then Obama…
Don’t lower the oceans just yet…
Geez..
/
Electrongod on May 13, 2013 at 7:54 PM
Declined flexibility??
This is reserved for Obama in his second term..
Electrongod on May 13, 2013 at 7:59 PM
Since sequestration is only a reduction of the increase( down from 107% to 105%), that means the discontinuing some of the old spending is to pay for some new spending.
I want to know what new spending is more important than (simply) continuing this part of the old spending?
jhnone on May 13, 2013 at 7:59 PM
There will be a slowdown at the National Parks management for the May long weekend, bet on it.
slickwillie2001 on May 13, 2013 at 7:59 PM
Why doesn’t it mean less I R S, and E P A ?
listens2glenn on May 13, 2013 at 8:01 PM
President pain strikes again.
tom daschle concerned on May 13, 2013 at 8:02 PM
Yes and I vaguely remember fk Texas back a few years ago when firefighting planes were not used because of
safetycontract dispute issues. There was no sequester at that time.Just like the Russkies made sure the Ukraine was no longer good farmland back in the Uncle Joe days.
arnold ziffel on May 13, 2013 at 8:04 PM
But we can afford millions and millions more
illegal immigrantsilliterate, unskilled citizens and the foodstamps, welfare, Obamacare, schooling and all the other associated costs.Nincompoop, please.
M240H on May 13, 2013 at 8:06 PM
Fear not. Firefighting in the Glade will not be effected.
-Fire Marshall Spark
SparkPlug on May 13, 2013 at 8:14 PM
And red states like my beautiful Idaho will just burn, baby, burn. Feds, kiss my a$$.
idalily on May 13, 2013 at 8:16 PM
Move South, ID …
We just get all the smoke..
Electrongod on May 13, 2013 at 8:21 PM
Good. Let them burn. Quit stocking up fuel.
Dry lightning has been around longer than the Feral gubmint.
wolly4321 on May 13, 2013 at 8:23 PM
That’s ok. God does it for free. It’s called wildfires. It worked since the beginning of time. The happy trees and animals all grew back. Now that man is here, he thinks it is his responsibility to put out fires and manage forests. Just like it is his responsibility to control the climate. Some things are bigger than man. It is easier to live with it than to fruitlessly fight it.
tdarrington on May 13, 2013 at 8:27 PM
Holy crap.
/I’m almost afraid to say anything at this point. And I ain’t no AP.
Did they mean AllahPundit, or the deified AP as in Associated Press?
Key West Reader on May 13, 2013 at 8:29 PM
The DOD commissaries are not having their May case-load sale because of…sequestration! Make the military families feel the pain!
tdarrington on May 13, 2013 at 8:29 PM
Tdarrington-
Yep.
It balances itself.
wolly4321 on May 13, 2013 at 8:31 PM
Associated Press. Kinda surprised as they’ve been lap dogs for O as well as other MSM outlets. Btw, how goes it?
chewmeister on May 13, 2013 at 8:37 PM
First BIG fire, homes going up in smoke. You can bet the last word you’ll hear will be “Sequestration” when folks break out the pitchforks and torches.
GarandFan on May 13, 2013 at 8:38 PM
Doesn’t this just make ya sick and mad!
I wanna smash somthing and hard!
3% of a flucking budget causes so much problems, what the hell are they doing with ALL OUR MONEY?
Scrumpy on May 13, 2013 at 8:51 PM
Worth reiterating, with boldface added for emphasis.
Why wouldn’t we continue to have the same level of fire-fighting capability as last year? The only “cut” made by the sequester was $1 out of every $6 of discretionary spending increases since 2008.
This guts our ability to fight wildfires?
de rigueur on May 13, 2013 at 9:38 PM
Maybe if all the useless under-secretaries in Washington with all their perks were fired, then there would be a whole lot more money for hiring firefighters. The problem is not a shortage of money, it is a shortage sound management.
bartbeast on May 13, 2013 at 9:47 PM
That sad excuse for an office should have been dissolved yesterday if not sooner. A good many of the people they ostensibly protect would very much like to play William Tell with the apple taped to their chest.
MelonCollie on May 13, 2013 at 10:02 PM
Let’s also lay off any government employee with ‘diversity’ in their job title.
slickwillie2001 on May 13, 2013 at 10:26 PM
Forest fires are a natural part of the ecological process… Long before we were here fires raged and forests were born anew. Long after we are gone it will continue. Don’t build a house in the forest if you don’t want it to eventually burn down to the ground.
I design homes for a living…You want a home in an extreme location… Prepare for extreme problems.
Kaptain Amerika on May 13, 2013 at 10:41 PM
Nobody wants to know about it, but there is a long-term fire danger in the San Francisco Bay Area that exists, in great part, to the fact that the DOI (in the form of NPS/Golden Gate National Recreation Area) is an instigator through the purchases and additions of particularly moribund and unkempt, dangerous stands of eucalyptus adjacent to the only water supply to 6 million people in the region:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5e4vAcUpKHraC1MNjh1YU1ZSG8/edit?usp=sharing
Shaughnessy on May 13, 2013 at 10:44 PM
I believe that I read that our foreign aid programs are exempt from sequestration. Am I wrong about that? If I am right, I can’t understand why that isn’t thrown in the face of these politicians more often.
Paco on May 14, 2013 at 8:40 AM
You are absolutely right! We should instruct our congressmen to restore the 3% and eliminate the other 97%. Who’s up for that?
Old Country Boy on May 14, 2013 at 2:59 PM