On the first day of the 111th Congress, over 400 bills were introduced. I introduced House Resolution 17 which would effectively abolish the House Committee on Appropriations. This may seem like blasphemy in the tax and spend culture of Washington, D.C., but I believe it is just solution we need for a broken spending system.
This bill wholeheartedly acknowledges that an egregious amount of overspending, waste, fraud, and abuse exists within both parties throughout the spending process which is shepherded by the Appropriations Committee. The House of Representatives invests its spending power in the 25 individuals of this spending panel, whose sole purpose it is to spend the taxpayers’ money; and they do a damn good job at it, and if you ask me…too good. There is no doubt; many Members of Congress have been tempted by the enormous power of spending $3 trillion per year of someone else’s money.
By abolishing the Appropriations Committee, each committee within the House would appropriate money within their specific jurisdiction; take for instance the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Under the new model, this committee would exercise authority over the State & Foreign Operations appropriations process. Responsibility for spending would then fall upon the shoulders of virtually every member of the House, and the days of the all powerful Appropriations panel would be over.
The House Committee on the Budget would be further empowered to act as a check on the spending process to ensure that spending levels stay under or level with the authorized spending amounts. I don’t claim that this will be the end of our spending woes, (that rests with the members of Congress the American people elect to represent them), but this is a solid step toward curtailing the wasteful Washington spenders and bring more transparency to the process.
January 12th, 2009 at 12:00 am
But Congressman, how can they fund all the bailouts that you have been voting for if thre’s no Appropriations Committee?
January 12th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Elimination of the Appropriations Committee makes far too much sense for it to have a chance of passing. Unfortunately, far too many of our leaders are driven by party, power and politics rather than principle.
January 12th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Good Luck!
Congress will either expand the membership of the Budget Committee or find another way for a new committee in place of Appropriations Cmte.
How about this for a new committee: Balanced Budget and Taxpayers Rights Committee. The goals of this committee would be self-explanatory due to the name of the cmte.
January 12th, 2009 at 12:00 am
This idea won’t solve the problem. A majority (upwards of 65%) of the federal budget is mandatory spending and is not controlled by the Appropriations Committee. These are programs like social security, medicare, debt payments, and the like.
Attacking the Appropriations Committee just nibbles at the edges and doesn’t even come close to solving the spending problem. Fix entitlements and you’re on to something.
January 12th, 2009 at 12:00 am
This is a good idea, but let’s face it, Democrats aren’t going to go for it and there isn’t any more than a small handful of Republicans that will do any more than give lip service to any spending restrictions. Republicans proved pretty worthless when they were in power, and they did nothing but spend and expand government when they had the opportunity.
There was a great article in Human Events a few months ago entitled “Stocks do Better When Congress Leaves Town” written by Dr. Mark Skousen. He laid out the facts that the stock market does much better when Congress is in recess (vacation). The best reform would be to keep these clowns out of Washington 360 days a year and this country would be much better served. For 360 days a week they could be in district shaking down their constituents… and the country would be safer and more prosperous!