First, the bad news.
Updating their budget estimates, House Republicans conceded Thursday that their best hope is to cut current appropriations by about $32 billion for the remainder of this fiscal year, once new spending for defense and other security needs are added to the equation.
The impact on domestic spending and foreign aid programs would still be very severe, with the GOP seeking an immediate $58 billion cut from President Barack Obama’s once expansive 2011 budget. The State Department, transportation, housing and education programs are among the major targets of a 9 percent reduction from current funding in just seven months.
Now for the good… fairly decent… OK, not entirely terrible news. Remember that we’re not talking about the 2012 budget. This is just for the remainder of this fiscal year, which ends this fall. Many of the expenses for this cycle were already locked in with no reasonable way out of them without massive penalties following.
Congress will get a fresh crack at this nut for next year as they move forward. But as the linked report notes, they won’t do much better if they restrict themselves to a tiny slice of the federal pie. Real reductions won’t be seen until an agreement can be hammered out which tackles costs in entitlement programs, the military budget and more.
Everyone is going to have to feel a bit of the pain if the total savings are to add up to anything meaningful. The more rice bowls which are set aside as sacred cows, the less chance there will be of serious reform.
This $32B number may seem depressing to those hoping for rapid progress on the deficit front, but at least the needle is moving in the correct direction. But as so many Tea Party folks warned the incoming class, they will be watching. We don’t expect results overnight, but we do expect steady progress. Better numbers need to be forthcoming by this autumn or the new class of fiscal conservatives may find themselves with an unpleasant surprise come primary time in 2012.
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