Marathon Pundit: Dems not listening: "Call to arms" issued to fight spending cuts

Friday, February 04, 2011

Dems not listening: "Call to arms" issued to fight spending cuts

Among the bogeymen Barack Obama ran against in 2008 were lobbyists.

Congressional Republicans haven't event formally proposed any budget cuts--yet Senate Democrats called on their lobbyist pals (Yes, they have them) to protect their favorite spending projects.

Runaway spending is one of the reasons why the Democrats got a "shellacking" in November. They're still not listening, as ABC News tells us:

As Congress prepares to make deep spending cuts, an army of lobbyists is gearing up to fight back.

In an e-mail obtained by ABC News, a top staffer for the key Senate Appropriations subcommittee called for a meeting of lobbyists and interest groups that would be affected by expected cuts to the Labor and Heath and Human Services budget. The Jan. 24 meeting was attended by approximately 400 people, sources told ABC, and served as a "call to arms" for those determined to fight Republican budget cuts.

"One thing everyone should be able to agree on now is that a rising tide lifts all boats, and that a higher [Labor, Health & Human Services] allocation improves the chances for every stakeholder group to receive more funding," the committee staffer for Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, wrote in an e-mail inviting people to the meeting.

The meeting is in contrast to the rampant calls all over Capitol Hill to cut federal spending. For instance, a recent proposal from Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., called for an 83 percent cut in funding for the Department of Education.