List of the Programs Proposed to be Cut in the 2011 Congressional Budget-Truth! & Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
This is a list of the 2011 budget cuts proposed by Congress that will save the country $2.5 Trillion in the next ten years.
The Truth:
The list was real according to a January 20, 2011 US News article but these were the original cuts proposed by the 212th Congress, under the leadership of John Boehner.
On April 8, 2011, the New York Times reported that the Democratic controlled Senate, under the leadership of Harry Reid, fought the budget cuts to the point where government almost shut down. Intervention by President Obama prompted last minute closed door negotiations between the two party leaders at the White House. This resulted in $38 Billion in spending cuts, an amount smaller than the original proposal.
About the budget battle Senator Reid said, “We didn’t do it at this late hour for drama.” The Senate Majority Leader then added, “We did it because it has been hard to arrive at this point.”
GOP House Majority Leader Boehner said, “This has been a lot of discussion and a long fight, but we fought to keep government spending down because it really will in fact help create a better environment for job creators in our country.”
On April 8, the Senate approved the stopgap measure shortly before the midnight deadline where government would come to a stand still. The New York Times article said that Congress approved it shortly after midnight and, “The Office of Management and Budget issued a memo saying normal government operations were back on track.”
The agreed budget cuts were posted in a blog on the White House web site and a list can be found in an April 9 article on The Hill, a web site that reports on government business in Washington. They are:
$13 billion from funding for programs at the Departments of Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services
over $1 billion in a cut across non-defense agencies
reductions to housing assistance programs and some health care programs
$8 billion in cuts to our budget for State and Foreign Operations
$630 million in earmarked transportation projects
at least $2.5 billion in transportation funding that is ready to be earmarked
$35 million by ending the Crop Insurance Good Performance Rebate
$30 million for a job training program that was narrowly targeted at certain student loan processors
$18 billion in cuts deemed unnecessary by the Pentagon
Updated 6/6/11