Speaker Boehner Doesn't Understand Reduced Spending

e-mail to Rep. Neugebauer:

In the December 19 issue of Chemical and Engineering News, Susan Morrissey has an article entitled, Rocky Road for Federal budget". It concerns the fact that Democrats have stalled passage of an omnibus spending bill, apparently developed by House Republicans. The stalling actually involves a dispute on the included payroll tax, which is not part of the omnibus spending. It is said that the spending bill was approved by sections of both the House and Senate. The spending bill includes nine fiscal 2012 appropriations bills.

Let us recall that we have a tremendous national debt and a tremendous budget deficit. We have been looking for ways to reduce government spending, but this is what the House Republicans have come up with and which has been generally accepted by the Senate: The total spending bill is $915 billion, which is almost $1 trillion.

The Department of Defense gets a cut of an almost insignificant 3%. The Department of Energy, which I previously said should be completely eliminated, maintains an expenditure of $1.8 billion. That apparently does not include Department of Energy scientific research, which will grow from $46 million to $4.9 billion. The budget for the National Institutes of Health will grow by 1%.The NIH grants, which I have been railing against, will remain unchanged. The EPA will get an almost insignificant cut of 3%. .

If House Speaker Boehner considers this to be a reasonable approach for fiscal funding of government, he needs to be taken out.