There are some early indications that the Republicans in office and those newly elected to office are about to do the big double cross. They think we will forget the promises and hope the Tea Party will go away. They believe they have a mandate, just like Obama did, and can do what they have always done, pander to the special interests.
One sure test of this will be the people they elect to be committee chairmen next week. Watch all, but watch the appropriations chairman carefully. That’s the job that dictates federal spending. Three Republicans are being considered. Jerry Lewis(Ca), Hal Rogers(Ky), and Jack Kingston(Ga).
Kingston has a plan. He’s a congressman from Georgia. Still, he proposes cutting billions in agricultural support. He wants to cut spending from the current 25% of GDP to 18% over time with a schedule to be followed. He wants to give committee seats to budget hawks like Jeff Flake from Arizona. He wants spending transparency, showing publicly where the money goes, including money spent on the AFL-CIO and AARP, which are not available today.
Jerry Lewis wants a second term in this position. He presided during a time when earmarks set new records(2005,2006) and fought every effort at reform. He needs a waiver to serve again. If Boehner grants that waiver and casts his 5 votes for either Lewis or Rogers over Kingston, he has sold out. It’s time to start putting inordinate pressure on him to let him know he didn’t pull this off without notice.
Rogers, while better than Lewis, is called the Prince of Pork. He and Lewis are scored C + by the National Taxpayers Union. Almost at the bottom for Republicans. Kingston is a B+.
If Boehner and his cronies let seniority dictate this position regardless of the record of the person named, he is dumber than a stump, which I’m not sure he isn’t.
If either Lewis or Rogers get this plumb, we all need to give a big message to the Republicans that we aren’t going to tolerate this and they are in peril at the next election.
