Sunshine Up My Butt

I wrote my congress women a letter explaining that I believe her to be a total sell out based on her "compromise" on the budget.  This is what she had to say:

Thank you for taking the time to contact me regarding the federal budget and your federal spending priorities.  It is good to hear from you.  I appreciate your views on specific federal spending levels and will keep them in mind as Congress works to complete the budget.

Under the new Republican Majority in the House of Representatives, my Republican colleagues have selected me to serve on the House Committee on Appropriations.  This committee sets specific federal expenditures for government agencies and departments.  When I am home in Wyoming, the top concern I hear about is out-of-control federal spending.

Over the last two years, President Obama and the Democrat-led Congress increased non-defense discretionary spending by 84 percent.  Before adjourning the 2010 session of Congress, Democrat leaders extended 2010's already bloated spending levels through March 4, 2011.  One of the first orders of business for House Republicans has been completing the 2011 budget and I believe we ultimately need to return to the pre-Obama, pre-stimulus spending levels of 2008.

I am proud to say that on February 19, 2011, House Republicans passed H.R. 1, the Fiscal Year 2011 Continuing Resolution (CR).  The CR reduces spending for the rest of the fiscal year to 2008 levels. In addition, the legislation takes first steps towards dismantling the new health care law and blocking Environmental Protection Agency actions that hurt Wyoming's economy and hamper job creation.

The CR was considered under an open process, allowing Members of both parties to offer more than 580 amendments.  The House spent over 60 hours in public debate, amending the bill to include an additional $620 million in spending cuts.  The Senate rejected this long term CR on an up and down vote, along with the Democrat alternative which would only have cut $6.5 billion for the rest of the fiscal year.

I ultimately ended up supporting bipartisan House passage of H.R. 1473, a FY 2011 budget deal, which funds the nation's military and keeps the government running for the remainder of the fiscal year. Although not perfect, this bill represents the beginnings of positive change to Washington's reckless spending culture. Congress is moving in the right direction with the near $40 billion in cuts, the largest single discretionary spending cut in history. 

These cuts required tough decisions and will mean less hard-earned taxpayer dollars for federal programs across America.  But I am ready to tackle these decisions because Wyoming sent me to Washington to restore fiscal discipline.  Our government is broke.  We need to cut up the credit card in order to eliminate the threat America's debt poses to the future of our country. But a lot of heavy lifting remains. I'm eager to continue the momentum into FY2012 with the GOP budget blueprint, 'The Path to Prosperity,' a serious plan that saves trillions of dollars and gets to the business of paying down America's unsustainable debt.

For the well-being of our country, I intend to fight for a new culture in Washington of saving more and spending less.  To this end, I have not requested a single earmark since taking office.  My Republican colleagues in the House have decided to follow suit by banning earmarks.  House Republicans have also cut the operating budget for Members of Congress by five percent.  These steps do not save a large amount of money in the grand scheme of things, but they are important first steps towards curing Washington's addiction to spending.

Not all federal spending is bad and I know there are federal programs of importance to the State of Wyoming.  I will continue to rely heavily on the input and insight of Wyoming citizens to help me understand the impact of specific federal programs in our State.   Moreover, I am committed to adequately funding both our veterans and the uniformed men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces.  I will continue to analyze spending according to its costs and benefits for Wyoming's citizens, many of whom have expressed to me their frustration with runaway federal spending that threatens to bankrupt the Treasury for our children and grandchildren. 

Thank you again for taking the time to write to me.  I value your input.  If you haven't done so already, I would like to encourage you to visit my website at www.lummis.house.gov.  There you can sign up to receive my newsletter, and have access to a wealth of other information.  I won't flood your email box, but I will provide you with updates once in a while about activities in Washington that affect our lives in Wyoming.  I hope you will sign up so that we can stay in close touch, and I look forward to seeing you in Wyoming.

Sincerely,

z

Cynthia M. Lummis

Member of Congress

In other words shes a sell out that likes to pretend she's doing everything possible to be fiscally responsible.  I'm going to respond to her when I think up an appropriate way to make my point and not be too ungentlemanly about it.  How would you respond?