Rehberg stood alone

It is often said in Washington that there are really three political
parties: the Democrats, the Republicans and the Appropriators.

This saying reflects the reality that those who typically are attracted
to the Appropriations or Transportation and Infrastructure committees
have a history of being all about bringing home the bacon, and they can
be a powerful force against meaningful budget cuts.

Nowhere was this truism more apparent than in the vote on the
Blackburn/Jordan amendment in last week’s continuing-resolution fight in
the House. For those who missed it, Reps. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.)
and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) attempted to pare an additional $20 billion from
the CR using an across-the-board formula totaling an additional 5.5
percent in real spending cuts.

The additional cuts would have effectively rolled back discretionary spending to fiscal 2008 levels, prior to the spending spree that has crippled our nation’s finances.

While 92 Republican “budget cutters” voted alongside every Democrat against the Blackburn-Jordan amendment, what was significant is that a single Appropriations Committee cardinal voted in favor, defying his majority leader, majority whip and his Appropriations Committee chairman, as well as every other Appropriations subcommittee chairman.

Which member took this courageous stand to not only defy his powerful colleagues but to stand on the principle that the federal government needs to cut its budget baseline to fiscal 2008 levels as a starting point to restoring fiscal sanity?

Denny Rehberg from Montana.

Rehberg distinguished himself this past week as a man who put his country before his own comfort, and made the tough vote that had others running for cover.

While other Republicans promised to go back through the regular appropriations process and root out programs that should receive even more significant cuts if not outright defunding, Rehberg, alone among key appropriators, voted to move the baseline back another $20 billion, making the larger budget balancing act more likely to succeed.

To put $20 billion into perspective, our national debt for fiscal 2011 is projected to reach $1.65 trillion by the Office of Management and Budget. Twenty billion dollars is a mere 1.47 percent of the entire projected budget shortfall for this year alone.

The math doesn’t lie, and as our nation struggles to meet our debt obligations in the years ahead only one key appropriator will be able to say that he went the extra mile — Denny Rehberg.

Let’s hope that his constituents appreciate his real commitment to getting our nation’s budget in balance, because here in D.C., he may have just gotten thrown out of the Appropriator Party.

Rick Manning is the communications director of Americans for Limited Government. You can follow him on Twitter @rmanning957.