The Obama Administration announced that it will urge government agencies to trim five percent from their budgets by reining in wasteful and duplicative programs – and redirect how that money is spent.  Less than 20 minutes later, the Administration’s Budget Chief Peter Orszag admitted that the initiative was as much about spending as it is deficit reduction.  To be clear, the Administration did not commit to use those cuts to pay down the deficits.

Look, trimming these budgets is a good thing – as Republicans have said repeatedly.  But is giving the heads of these agencies the ability to redirect money really an indication that Washington is prepared to bring our deficits under control before the European debt crisis migrates across the Atlantic?  Or is it simply posturing?

The good news is that the administration, at least on the surface, is finally getting the message that the American people are fed up with the reckless culture of spending prevailing over Washington.  America has soured on an agenda that sets out to double the debt in five years and triple it in 10.  That is why we launched YouCut, an effort to begin to transform the culture in Washington from one focused entirely on spending to one that forces measures to cut waste and save money.

Now, after more than 700,000 YouCut votes have been cast to remove specific wasteful spending items in the budget, and three House votes later (that would have saved $85 billion had enough Democrats supported them), the President is beginning to talk about finding ways to save taxpayer money.

(more…)

Last Wednesday, I announced on Big Government the launch of a new initiative that would enable taxpayers to directly propose federal spending cuts on the House floor. Today, over a quarter-million Americans will get to see whether their representatives in Congress share their specific fiscal priorities.

For those who hunger to hold their elected officials accountable for perpetuating a culture of reckless runaway spending in Washington, meet YouCut.

This first-of-its-kind interactive initiative empowers taxpayers with direct democracy at a time when their faith in Congress’ fiscal prudence has reached its lowest. YouCut allows the public to vote each week on one of five wasteful spending items that they would like to strip from the federal budget. Once the votes are tallied, Republicans force a vote on whether or not to take up and debate the cut on the House floor.

During the first week, a plurality of voters – over 81,000! – chose to axe a recently created $2.5 billion annual welfare program that undercuts cost-saving welfare reforms made in the mid 1990’s.  Within 5 days of the experiment, 280,000 Americans have cast a vote either online or by text message.  At several points, more than 5,000 votes were being cast per hour, with less than one percent of votes originating from inside the beltway.

The overwhelming response speaks to the extreme levels of frustration that you feel toward a Congress that refuses to listen to you.  Over the last decade, taxpayers have grown weary of the incessant federal spending binges – no matter which party has been in power. They now look across the Atlantic with horror as Europe collapses under the weight of its own debt. Fear that America will go down the same road has only amplified calls for spending restraint.

Through YouCut, concerned citizens are cracking through the wall of resistance put up by big spenders in Washington to create a new culture of savings. This poses a threat to several in Congress who are invested heavily in preserving the status quo – hence the Democratic National Committee’s vigorous effort to discredit the program.  Worse, rather than listening to the hundreds of thousands of Americans, Tim Kaine (Chairman of the DNC) and Chris Van Hollen (Chairman of the DCCC) chose to mock the opinions of those who voted.  Not listening – a common theme for Democrats.

(more…)

Two weeks ago, I wrote on BigGovernment that the GOP Today is much different than the party was a few years back.  I was glad that my post generated attention, and very pleased to read through the different responses – both positive and skeptical.    Today I write again for two reasons.  First, to announce an exciting new project devised by the House Republican Economic Working Group.  Second, to take another step in earning your trust by showing you that we understand that actions speak louder than words.

We all know that Washington has a spending problem – and both Democrats AND Republicans bear some responsibility.  But as I wrote last week, America is at a crossroads and the choices we make at this critical time will determine what kind of country we want to be.  To get back on the right path, Congress MUST start to make some choices that simply can’t be delayed any longer.

While we won’t be able to solve our deficit problems overnight or with one silver bullet, we CAN and we MUST begin to replace the culture of spending that now dominates Washington with a culture of savings.  Just imagine if your government was as focused on saving money as it is on spending money.  Imagine if Congress spent less time naming post offices – 62 and counting – and more time reducing wasteful spending.  Sounds nice, doesn’t it?

Today, we are launching YouCut – a first-of-its-kind project designed to defeat the permissive culture of runaway spending in Congress.  It allows YOU to vote, both online and on your cell phone, on spending cuts that you want to see the House – YOUR HOUSE – enact.   That’s right, instead of Washington telling YOU how THEY will spend YOUR money, YOU can tell THEM how to save it.  After several days of voting, on Monday, May 17^th, we will announce the first winner and later that week House Republicans will call for an up-or-down vote on the spending cut.  We will repeat this cycle every week for the rest of the year.

For the first week of voting, here are your choices:

(more…)

After Republicans suffered consecutive bruising defeats in 2006 and 2008, boastful Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee officials warned that Republicans faced a difficult decision: Go along with the sweeping agenda of the new administration, or suffer the disastrous consequences of taking on an enormously popular president in the 2010 elections.

Perhaps the GOP of 2005 would have taken the bait and swallowed the administration’s bad medicine. After all, Republicans during that period were guilty of spending too much and growing government too much, both of which would become hallmarks of the February 2009 stimulus plan and the loaded agenda that would follow. That GOP became a bloated, go-along to get-along body that forgot how to lead. We blew it, and we were rightfully fired by our bosses – the American people.

But the GOP in the House today is different. Very different. Led by a new generation of young and energetic leaders, we are committed to restoring the public’s trust in our ability to lead as responsible adults.

Let’s take a look at the last 16 months.

In the face of one-party Democratic rule, House Republicans learned fairly quickly that an election won on ‘change’ would result in a far more intrusive and expensive government. At the time, many political pundits joined the chorus of Democrats who warned that House Republicans faced political suicide if they didn’t support the President’s signature inaugural initiative – his stimulus plan. Yet we decided to fight. And we fought hard. The reason we were able to credibly oppose such a popular President was because we presented a much more responsible approach that would have created twice the jobs at half the cost of the eventual stimulus law that has failed to deliver as promised. A 178-seat minority isn’t going to win many legislative battles in the House. But it did prove sufficient to offer a clear contrast and provide the first glimpse of a Republican Party that had returned to its fiscally conservative roots.

(more…)

Many of you have been following the dispute between a 90 year old Medal of Honor recipient and his homeowners association about flying the American flag.  If you haven’t, you can read about it in the Richmond Times Dispatch here.

Col. Van T. Barfoot, a resident of Richmond, Virginia, is a veteran of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam who begins his day by raising the flag in his front yard.  This seems simple enough, a man who has sacrificed so much raising the flag he risked his life to defend around the world, yet the dispute continued.

In response, Congressman Buck McKeon (CA-25) of the Armed Services Committee and I introduced a resolution to ensure that ANY of the 72 Congressional Medal of Honor winners can fly the American flag outside their homes at any time.  Interestingly, minutes later the homeowners association announced that they would let him proceed.

(more…)

The Democrats’ disconnect with kitchen table issues and the reality faced by families, workers, and small businesses is growing more evident by the minute.   The reckless agenda being pushed by Speaker Pelosi, President Obama, and many Democrats on Capitol Hill is not helping struggling Americans and small business job creators – but it is hurting our country.  Their agenda continues to expand the reach of government, increase the deficit to alarming levels, and require even more money from foreign countries.   On everything from spending to cap-and-trade to card check, jobs and fiscal responsibility have taken a back seat.

This disconnect will reach new heights next week as the President and Speaker Pelosi prepare to fly to Copenhagen to promote job killing cap & trade legislation as unemployment continues to rise and the deficit continues to soar here at home.  Cap and Trade is a tax raising scheme that some wrongly believe can reduce carbon emissions.  It starts with the misguided belief that Washington can identify a commodity, assess its value and charge people for its use.  That is contrary to the America many of us believe in, and contrary to the reality that free markets should determine the price of commodities.

(more…)