Miller Newsletter: Budget, Near Government Shutdown

April 11, 2011

In his latest newsletter, U.S. Rep Jeff Miller discusses the budget.

The following was submitted by Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Chumuckla for NorthEscambia.com:

This week was supposed to be all about the long-term budget for the United States.  Tuesday, House Republicans proposed a fiscal year 2012 budget resolution that would cut federal spending by more than $6 trillion over ten years.  It includes necessary entitlement reform and returned non-security discretionary spending to 2006 levels.  It simplifies the tax code by lowering rates and reducing tax credits.  In short, the Republican budget would put America back on the path to prosperity.

Instead, because Senate Democrats refused to pass last year’s funding bill, the government narrowly averted a shutdown.  Instead of looking at long-term solutions, Senate Democrats refused to cut spending this year.  Instead of funding our military for the rest of the year, Senate Democrats refused to pay our troops.

But in the end, while the process was ugly, we were successful.  We were successful in cutting federal spending by $38.5 billion this year.  We were successful in averting a painful government shutdown that would have damaged a fragile economy and forced troops to work without pay.  And most importantly, in the face of tremendous opposition, we made a significant down payment on the spending cuts we promised you.

Partisanship aside, House Republicans offered plan after plan to avoid the shutdown.  In February, we passed a year-long continuing resolution (CR) that would fund the entire government for the rest of the year.  It made significant spending cuts at time when they are not only wanted, but required.  When the Senate refused to pass their own bill, we passed an extension to give them more time to consider a compromise.  Then we passed a second extension.  Five weeks passed, and Senate Majority Leader Reid did not bring a single bill to the Senate floor that would fund the government.

So Thursday, 24 hours before the shutdown, House Republicans passed a one-week extension that would give more time for negotiations and would pay our military for the rest of the year.  But before the bill was even passed by the House, the President said he would veto it, and the Senate said it was dead on arrival.  We have members of the military across the world who stand in harm’s way, but would not have been paid for their service.

This was absolutely, unequivocally unacceptable.

It is unacceptable that Senate Democrats would have rather haggled over a few billion dollars than pay our military.  It is unacceptable that the President would show up at the last minute in the negotiations and not take a leadership role on spending cuts.  And it is unacceptable that Senate Democrats would ask our U.S. Armed Services to fight in three wars without pay.

On Friday night, after we continued to press for funding cuts and for our conservative values, we achieved success.  Republicans and Democrats reached an agreement to cut $38.5 billion in government spending, $79 billion less than the President wanted in his budget.  There will not be taxpayer funding for abortion in D.C., and we will have an up or down vote on Obamacare and Planned Parenthood in the Senate.

This was pure and simple a fight over the federal budget.  And, at the end of the day, we achieved our goal to dramatically cut government spending.

Make no mistake, this is only the beginning of the debate over the future of our country.  This is only the first step in our long-term goal to reform the size of the government.  House Republicans made our position known, and we will continue to draw a line in the sand for a smaller, more responsible federal government.

As we continue to move forward on the FY2011 and FY2012 budget, which tackles America’s long-term financial future, I will continue to uphold the values and freedom you elected me to defend.  We must take a stand on the future of our country, and the time to make that stand is now.



Comments

5 Responses to “Miller Newsletter: Budget, Near Government Shutdown”

  1. eab on April 13th, 2011 12:43 am

    Uh Oh Jeff. Looks like you ain’t foolin’ nobody. Might wanna be lookin’ for another job.

  2. MM on April 12th, 2011 11:32 am

    The Rep/Dems end up cutting budget by about 1%. As George Wallace said, “There’s not a dime’s difference between the two parties.”

    I think the budget needs to be cut more drastically – say, 50%. It’s not government spending. It’s taxpayer spending.

  3. eab on April 11th, 2011 9:47 pm

    Jeff Miller said….”It simplifies the tax code by lowering rates and reducing tax credits.”

    I said…I wonder if someone could elaborate on this and be a bit more specific. Lowering rates on who? Reducing tax credits for who? Specifically. This is like saying “We did a bang up job”.

    Jeff Miller said…we will have an up or down vote on Obamacare and Planned Parenthood in the Senate

    I said….I am against the health care bill in it’s current form and I am totally against abortion but you, Mr Miller, in referring to the bill as Obamacare, show a disrespectful attitude toward the office of President of the United States. Unfortunately, you are representing the ugly side of my conservative thought when you rely on hateful and discourteous speech to illustrate your “conservatism”, which in this case more resembles pandering for votes.

    You may think that you are “preaching to the choir”,sir but some of us are listening to the song you sing. It’s about your own continued employment.

    Your entire message here sounds more like a stump speech than a report on the events regarding the budget.

  4. Kay on April 11th, 2011 9:25 am

    I love these articles too. This is kind like too many cooks in the kitchen.
    They would rather watch the food burn so they fight about who’s right
    about WHEN the FIRE should be TURNED OFF.
    Of course the Republicans are going to save the U.S.A. now they ALSO
    helped spend us into the poor house.

    GIVE ME A BREAK

  5. Brittany on April 11th, 2011 1:55 am

    I really enjoyed reading this article. I am very glad to see that the Republicans are trying to do something to save this country! I back you all 110%. Thank you for fighting for our troops so they will be paid for their services. My husband has been in the Air Force for almost 13 years, and we have two little girls to take care of. If the government had shut down, I honestly don’t know what we would have done to put food in our children’s mouths. Thank you once again for you continued fight for our troops and the fight of trying to bring back a CONSERVATIVE US Government.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News