September 30, 2005

Firing Back

My congressman, U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, was attacked in an editorial in last Monday's Tennessean for proposing that federal hurricane relief spending be offset by spending cuts. She fires back today with a withering response that indicts the paper for writing an editorial based on untruths - because it didn't report the truth in the first place.

I'm going to repost here in the extended portion of this entry because you really ought to read every word of it.

Blackburn: War on waste is neither mean nor is it new
By REP. MARSHA BLACKBURN

After serving four years in the state Senate and almost three in Congress, I'm rarely shocked by what is printed in the newspaper about my work and political philosophy.

In 1999 when I proposed across-the-board spending cuts for Tennessee, it was implied that my policies were mean-spirited and therefore invalid. My opposition to the state income tax was roundly criticized by seemingly everyone - everyone except Tennessee taxpayers and voters.

It appears some things never change. Today, my call for balancing our hurricane relief spending with reductions in government elsewhere is being portrayed as callous and insensitive.

In a recent editorial, The Tennessean asked why it had taken the expense of a hurricane to make us worry about the deficit. I ask, why has it taken the expense of a hurricane to make them hear my call for reduced spending?

Whether serving on Capitol Hill in Nashville or Washington, I've consistently supported less government spending. But, as in the past, some in the news media believe no action has been taken and no news has been made unless they report it. Some would call that an ignorant perspective. Some would call it arrogance.

Last Congress, I introduced three bills to require across the board spending reductions in non-defense, non-homeland security discretionary spending. The bills included a 1%, 2% and 5% cut and would have saved us anywhere from $4 billion to $21 billion a year. Most in the news media failed to report on those bills.

This week, I re-introduced my 1%, 2% and 5% across-the-board spending reduction legislation. Like my state Senate proposal, this method of spending reduction would let each agency determine what it could most afford to cut.

The assertion that I have only recently begun speaking to this issue is simply not true. It's only now that some - on both sides of the aisle - have chosen to listen.

In recent years, those reductions I proposed in the state Senate have been acted upon in our state. I will thank The Tennessean for noting at the time that reductions were enacted that I had been proved correct, even though in their words, "my math was simplistic."

In the nearly three years I've served in the U.S. Congress, I have helped lead the charge to target waste, fraud and abuse in federal spending.

My freshman year in Congress, a few of us new members co-founded the Washington Waste Watchers group. No matter what committee we served on, each member of the group vowed to search for ways to cut spending.

This year, the House passed a 2006 budget containing a 0.8% reduction in non-defense, non-homeland security discretionary spending. Discretionary spending is on track to be lower than last year's levels, which is something we've not done since President Reagan's administration. Are these enough reductions? No.

When we operate with a deficit, we should be actively working to cut spending. When we operate without a deficit, we should actively be looking for ways to reduce government growth. That is my philosophy, and it has not changed.

The recent editorial implied that my calls for spending cuts were something new and that I was being insensitive to the plight of those suffering in the aftermath of this devastating hurricane season. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, later this week, I will introduce a bill to provide federal guarantees for state-issued hurricane relief bonds. These bonds will give affected states the means to raise additional funds for rebuilding projects.

Residents all across the Seventh District and Tennessee have pitched in to help evacuees, but I don't think it's asking too much that we find ways to fund recovery using existing funds instead of piling on more debt. My family and I have traveled to Mississippi to volunteer with cleanup efforts, and I will continue supporting our friends and neighbors along the Gulf Coast.

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