Plenty For Conservatives In New Budget Plan

Although House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) agreed to drop his party’s key social issues from the budget negotiations, there is still plenty of red meat for Conservatives in the new budget plan.

The resolution includes language that would specifically bar the Obama administration from bringing Guantanamo detainees to U.S. soil “for any purpose,” despite the fact that the White House has signaled they would no longer attempt to transfer the detainees to the U.S. for trials or imprisonment.

Policy advisers, commonly called “czars,” who came under increased Republican scrutiny after Obama took office will also be on the chopping block. The new plan would eliminate the “Car Czar,” the “Urban Affairs Czar,” the “Climate Change Czar,” and the “Health Care Czar.”

While not going as far as Republicans initially wanted, the legislation appears to limit the reach of the EPA. It includes deep cuts to the EPA, with $1.6 billion in reductions, including $49 million from spending related to climate change.

The National Endowment for the Arts, which for decades has been held up by Republicans as a symbol of waste and, in some instances, bad taste, will also face reductions. $25 million will be cut from both it and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The overall plan contains $40 billion in spending cuts, and according to Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, fulfills the GOP’s overarching goal of keeping “precious tax dollars where they are needed most – in the hands of businesses and individuals across the nation.” Congress must pass it within the coming days, since spending has only been extended through Thursday.