New Gop Spending Cut Website

[zoke]

It's called, republicanwhip.house.gov/YouCut, sponsored by GOP whip Eric Cantor.

The gist of it is that, each week, five voting measures are brought up for a straw poll. The measures are different ways to cut wasteful spending in the US government (e.g. reforming Fannie & Freddie, selling excess gov't property, etc.) and are presented as an idea, projected savings over 1 year (and, if applicable, 10 years), and a general overview. Over the course of the week, the measures are voted on, and the most popular one gets brought to the floor of the House for a straight, up-or-down vote. If the measure is voted up, then it goes to the Senate, etc., and if it fails, well... it fails. However, no matter the result, the site also lists the voting position of every member of the House on the issue.

So far, none of their proposals have passed, as there has (rather predictably) been little-to-no deviation from partisan lines. However, I think this entire program shows a legitimate attempt by Congress men and women to return accountability to themselves and their colleagues.

So, what does NG think of this site? Keep this? Also, keep in mind the following:

This month, our country reached a staggering milestone - the national debt topped $13 trillion. To put that in perspective, if you were to spend $1 per second, it would take you about 412,000 years to rack up $13 trillion in debt. While the median income per person in 2004 was $23,535, each American taxpayer's share of the national debt is $118,500.

Even more troubling, if President Obama's proposed budget for fiscal year 2011 is followed, it would add an additional $1.3 trillion to our debt by September 30, 2011. This would increase our total national debt to $14.3 trillion - roughly equal to the size of our nation's entire economy. Once we reach the point where we owe as much or more than we are able to earn in one year, the United States could fall into some of the same problems we are seeing now in Greece, Portugal, and Spain.

This leads to one very clear, very simple fact: we must learn to live within our means or else we will find ourselves drowning in red ink. [...]

-Congressman Frank Lucas

[zoke]

At 6/19/10 11:58 PM, zoke wrote: Keep this?

*Meant to read, "keep this in mind."