Glenn and I had the opportunity to interview the House Majority Leader today on the budget, porkbusting, and the prospects for the emergency supplemental spending bill.



Audio can be downloaded here: high quality mp3 / lower quality mp3

My favorite bit was when I asked Congressman Boehner about the mind-numbingly stupid proposal that, rather than dumping the $17B in pork and other extras that the Senate added on to the emergency supplemental bill for Iraq, Afghanistan, and Katrina funding, some bright bulbs want to simply cut everything in the package by 13% to bring the dollar value under President Bush's target and sneak by his veto threat.

This would of course result in a significant shortfall in the actual emergency funds that were the point of the bill in the first place, to the tune of $9.6B less for Iraq and Afghanistan and $2.6B less for Katrina relief. But no matter, if it means the pork gets through!

Happily, the good Congressman was having none of it:

N.Z.: One of the trial balloons that's been floated -- and I believe we heard you shoot down last week --- was doing an across-the-board cut to meet the dollar target that ---

Majority Leader Boehner: We're not doing that. That's just nonsense. Our job, as members of Congress, we were elected to come here and make decisions on behalf of the American people. And when it comes to deciding, what should be funded and what doesn't need to be funded are decisions we're charged with making. And so some across the board cut so we can do probably well-meaning, well-intentioned projects somewhere else: that's skirting our responsibility.

The followup to this question, however, was a bit less reassuring:

N.Z.: Is the only acceptable answer then in your mind simply the Iraq / Afghanistan / Katrina funding, or is there a possibility of a compromise with some of the additions the Senate has put in?

Majority Leader Boehner: I don't want to predict what [House Appropriations Chairman] Lewis and [Senate Appropriations Chairman ] Cochran will come up with, nor do I want to complicate their negotiations. But I've laid my marker down very clearly, that we're not going to spend more than the President asked for.

It was great to hear the Majority Leader reiterate his disdain for the across-the-board cut approach --- but I was genuinely hoping for a firm commitment to not just the President's dollar target, but to the contents of his request --- Katrina relief, Iraq and Afghanistan funding, and nothing else. We'll be watching the House / Senate negotations on the bill closely --- and if you feel as strongly as we do on this issue, by all means, let your Senators and Representative know about it.

It was great of the Majority Leader to take the time to speak with us, and thanks to him and his office for setting this up...