Sen. Manchin Joins other Senate Dem's in Backing Bill to Cap Govt. Spending

Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia said Tuesday he would back a bill that places strict caps on spending enforced by automatic cuts if those caps were breached. Top Senate Democrats oppose spending caps as too inflexible. Sen. Manchin's announcement could weaken the Dem's position in the coming negotiations over increasing the debt ceiling. Congressional Republicans and even some Democrats have said they will not vote to raise the debt ceiling unless it is tied to reforms in government spending. Manchin's support for the CAP Act, means supporters of the bill are one vote shy of a majority, according to the office of Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, who co-authored the bill with Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee. The CAP Act is a "fiscal straitjacket" that would force Congress to reduce spending dramatically, according to Corker. Over the next ten years, it would reduce spending to no more that 20.6 percent of gross domestic product, down from the current level of 24.7 percent. If Congress did not stay under the cap, the executive branch would have "to make evenly distributed, simultaneous cuts throughout the federal budget to bring spending down to the pre-determined level," according to the bill. Only a vote by two-thirds majority of both the House and Senate could prevent the automatic cuts. The republicans need to keep this fight, over the debt ceiling and spending cuts, going as long as possible. The Democrats are slowly falling away from their leadership and siding with the Republicans on this issue. It seems you hear of another Dem switching sides on this issue every few days. Keep fighting the good fight conservatives.

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