Congress today reduced discretionary spending for the second year in a row - a first in modern U.S. history - and that has House Republican Conference Secretary John Carter pleased and hopeful for additional progress next year in curbing the nation’s deficit spending. The House this afternoon passed the Conference Report on the Consolidated Appropriations Act of Fiscal Year 2012 by a 296-121 margin.
“While the dollar amount of the cuts in this and last year’s bill were well short of what I would have liked to see, what we have accomplished is quite remarkable,” says Carter. “In just one year since Congress changed hands we have gone from massive increases in federal spending to real discretionary spending cuts, which is a sea-change in attitude. With this momentum, and with the progress we have made in debate on this issue, I am hopeful that next year we can finally start to responsibly address not just discretionary spending, but mandatory spending as well.”
When signed into law, the 2012 Act will have cut $31 billion in discretionary spending compared to FY2011 levels, and $95 billion compared to FY 2010.
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