House Democrats Begin to Push Back on Draconian GOP Spending Cuts

Hasn’t it felt lately like Capitol Hill is in some kind of bizarre vortex?

On one hand, everyone acknowledges the November election was all about “jobs, jobs, jobs.” And President Obama is pushing for some serious government investment in passenger rail and other infrastructure projects to create jobs and build the foundation for economic growth.

And on the other hand, Republicans are single-mindedly focused on cutting spending, even where thousands of jobs depend on government funding. And Democrats have been going along with the deficit-reduction mantra.

Now four Democrats are standing up to expose the contradiction and push for infrastructure spending. Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), James Moran (D-VA), Albio Sires (D-NJ) and Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) sent a Dear Colleague letter to the rest of the House on Monday, asking lawmakers to resist GOP pressure to cut recklessly.

They point to the damage that could be caused by the Republican Study Committee’s proposal to bring spending levels back to 2008 levels by cutting everything from USAID to Amtrak to public media. The four lawmakers call the plan “a recipe for economic disaster.” They focus on the proposed cuts to Amtrak and the New Starts transit program, saying:

These days, many advocates are trying to re-frame their message to appeal to the new Republican class, and in their way, these four lawmakers are no different. Rather than focus on the densely urban Northeast Corridor, they call attention to the potential harm the cuts would cause to rural areas.

In an email, Rep. Blumenauer told Streetsblog that he’s pleased that the President has proposed $53 billion more for high-speed rail, and that the Republican proposal goes in the wrong direction:

The four members who signed the letter are well positioned to have an impact. Though all are members of the minority party, which severely limits the impact they can have, together they hold positions on the Budget, Appropriations, Transportation and Financial Services Committees.

Those committees – especially the first three – are right now in the process of defining future spending levels. As members of those committees, these four Democrats can raise their voices against starving critical programs. But will anyone listen?