Dissecting the House Budget Committee’s 2011 Budget Cuts

Mackenzie Eaglen and Alison Fraser / February 03, 2011

House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R–WI) has released a fiscal year (FY) 2011 budget target. This target—302 allocation in budgetary parlance—was necessary since the previous congressional Democratic majority failed to pass a 2011 budget resolution or even enact a single 2011 appropriations bill. Instead they passed a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government, which expires on March 4. Thus, this dereliction of the basic duties of governing required the new Congress to start from scratch.

The Ryan proposal would cut non-security discretionary spending by $58 billion below the level proposed by President Obama, and when security spending is factored in total discretionary spending, it would be cut by $74 billion.

With a federal budget deficit projected at $1.5 trillion for this year, spending cuts are essential. After growing consistently over the past decade, non-security discretionary spending alone jumped an additional 25 percent between 2007 and 2010—not even counting the $311 billion in “stimulus” funding these programs received. Given the historic trillion-dollar deficits Washington faces, fiscal reality requires paring back these increases and doing so immediately. So these cuts are welcome. (more…)