If you missed this week's issue of The Tab, you've missed a lot -- NTUF has released a comprehensive look at the House majority's first 100 days in office. This post presents just three highlights from that report, but you can read the entire paper here or download it in as a PDF here.
Congressional races in 2010 turned on fiscal issues and brought a Republican majority that promised to restore fiscal responsiblity in Washington to power in the House. Using data from NTUF's BillTally system, NTUF has analyzed the majority's first 100 days in office. Based on that analysis, it appears that the House is taking its fiscal mandate seriously -- as evidenced by the size of the spending cuts shown in Table 1 below -- but the question remains as to whether their efforts will be up to the monumental task of changing how Washington taxes and spends.
Table 1. Cost of All Bills, in Billions | |||
Congress | Increases | Decreases | Net* |
104th | $149.3 | ($123.9) | $25.7 |
111th | $419.1 | ($55.9) | $363.3 |
112th | $144.8 | ($297.6) | ($152.9) |
* Totals may not add due to rounding | |||
Table 2, which further breaks out the data by party, shows that both parties appear to have heard the electorate's call for fiscal reform as Members of the 112th Congress -- on average -- have proposed smaller increases and larger cuts than their predecessors. While these cuts are sizable, the federal government is still borrowing 43 cents of every dollar that it spends, and taxpayers face a federal debt burden of $14.3 trillion.
Table 2. House Sponsorship of Legislation in the First 100 Days of 104th, 111th, and 112th Congresses (Dollar Amounts in Millions, Excludes Universal Health Care Proposals) | ||||
Congress | Proposed Increases | Proposed Cuts | Net Agendas | Percent of Increases Offset by Cuts |
Democrats | ||||
104th | $12,396 | ($1,461) | $10,936 | 11.8% |
111th | $45,731 | ($1,030) | $44,701 | 2.3% |
112th | $9,527 | ($3,246) | $6,281 | 34.1% |
Republicans | ||||
104th | $4,337 | ($11,645) | ($7,308) | 268.5% |
111th | $12,974 | ($11,349) | $1,625 | 87.5% |
112th | $596 | ($63,612) | ($63,015) | 9,372% |
Notes: Totals may not add due to rounding. Data excludes the Speaker of the House. | ||||
Finally, Table 3 details where Members are looking to cut spending.
Table 3. Spending Reductions by Category (112th Congress) | |||
Category | # Of Bills | Total Annualized Cost | Average Annualized Cost |
Agriculture/Environment | 2 | ($51) | ($26) |
Commerce/Economy/Housing | 5 | ($5,026) | ($1,005) |
Education | 1 | ($34) | ($34) |
Energy | 2 | ($79) | ($40) |
Federal Government | 8 | ($3,865) | ($483) |
Foreign Affairs/International Relations | 1 | ($3,638) | ($3,638) |
Health | 5 | ($44,433) | ($8,887) |
Homeland Security | 1 | ($12) | ($12) |
Infrastructure/Transportation | 2 | ($162) | ($81) |
Law Enforcement/Courts | 1 | ($30) | ($30) |
Medicare/Medicaid | N/A* | ($1,600) | ($1,600) |
Miscellaneous | 5 | ($191,021) | ($38,204) |
National Defense | 3 | ($36,624) | ($12,208) |
Tax Reform | 1 | ($11,074) | ($11,074) |
Veterans | 0 | $0 | $0 |
Total | 38 | ($297,649) | ($7,833) |
* Included in H.R. 408, not counted as an additional bill. | |||
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