Saying they fear a lack of fiscal discipline from the White House and their own party, key House Republicans Thursday vowed to battle any attempts to increase discretionary spending caps in the balanced budget agreement.
"We really don't care who we have to fight," House Budget Chairman John Kasich, R-Ohio, said, adding that he fears attempts by his own party, as well as by the administration. He said he, House Republican Conference Chairman John Boehner of Ohio and others will insist attempts to increase discretionary spending be offset by cuts. "If you don't have the discipline to cut something else, we become just like the Democrats," Kasich said.
The Republicans said there will be intense pressure to increase the spending caps because the federal budget might show a surplus, and agreed that a major fight will be over the reauthorization of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act. Nonetheless, Boehner said, "The spending caps must stay in place." Boehner said he is not certain that the House and Senate will hold the line on increasing the caps, citing the "forces of Washington culture." However, Kasich said, "I believe that, in the end, we will win this because the [Republican] party will stay true to its principles."
Kasich added that many conservatives believe discretionary spending should have been lower, not higher. He said the caps call for virtually no growth in discretionary spending over the next few years. "That represents our version of a smaller government," he said. "I'm for more money for highways. But we have to figure out what we're not going to spend money on." In a related development, Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., a Budget Committee member, said he would introduce legislation that would protect the Social Security trust fund and other trust funds from being used for spending increases or tax cuts.
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