In a bid to rein in deficits, Republicans revised the rules of the House to require that new spending – but not new tax cuts – be offset by spending cuts.
“Our spending has caught up with us, and our debt soon will eclipse the entire size of our national economy,” said Speaker Boehner, addressing the House on Wednesday. “No longer can we kick the can down the road.”
But Republicans did not offset the costs of a proposed repeal of health care reform in the bill they took to the floor for a procedural vote on Friday. The independent Congressional Budget Office – in past years, the last word on the cost of a bill – estimated that repeal would cost $230 billion over 10 years.
GOP leaders said that that estimate was based on false assumptions. Democrats said that rejecting the CBO estimates in favor of partisan estimates sets a dangerous precedent. Rep. Peter Welch (D) of Vermont told Republicans on the rules panel that “the promises you made during the campaign [and] the rhetoric you relied upon impel you to come up with an offset for the $230 billion.”
