Speaker Boehner Confident 2011 Budget Will Pass

By Mario Trujillo

Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Thursday that he was confident the bipartisan spending resolution agreed to last Friday will pass the House later in the day, even though reports have indicated the agreement wouldn’t reduce spending as far as some hoped.

Some in the GOP— including Mike Pence (R-Ind.), Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and others— have vowed to vote against the deal, arguing the $38 billion in cuts to current spending levels don’t go far enough. Boehner wouldn’t comment on whether votes against the bill equal discontent inside the Republican conference, only noting that the resolution has enough votes to pass.

“We finally secured these budget cuts from [the Democrats],” Boehner said. “And I believe it will pass with a bipartisan majority today.”

Boehner also dismissed reports Thursday that estimate the savings to the current year’s spending as minimal following an AP report that claims the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office believes the cuts will only total a mere $325 million in savings for the remainder of the year, a circumstance that can be attributed to some proposed cuts not having an immediate effect and increases in defense spending.

“People have to understand we are cutting $38.5 billion of money that has already been authorized and appropriated,” Boehner said. “And anyone who doesn’t believe this money wouldn’t be spent if we don’t act is kidding themselves. This is real money and these are real cuts.”

Republicans passed a previous resolution to cut $61 billion from spending levels. That proposal didn’t pass the Senate. Last Friday, hours before a government shutdown, Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and president Obama announce an agreement to cut $38 billion.

The agreement precedes a debate on the FY 2012 budget. The President announced his plan yesterday to reduce the debt by $4 trillion over the next 12 years, by cutting to discretionary spending, finding healthcare savings and increasing taxes for the wealthiest Americans.

Boehner, backing the GOP budget released last week by Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis), said Obama’s speech lacked new ideas.

“The president gave us more of the same,” Boehner said. “A partisan speech about the need for more spending, more taxing, and more borrowing.”