Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan., called the last-minute fiscal cliff deal “a disappointing ending” to the 112th Congress, primarily because it doesn’t address entitlement spending.
“Today, the trillion-dollar ObamaCare tax increase begins and Washington maxed out its credit card yet again, and in response, Washington punts,” Huelskamp said in a statement. “This is just another deal by Washington insiders – with no real solutions. Small businesses and the next generation will ultimately pay for the three-strikes of this bill: higher taxes, more spending, and no entitlement reform.”
Huelskamp especially criticized the way lawmakers dragged out the negotiations before ending with a deal largely unsatisfying to both sides.
“There has been no shortage of time to forge a solution to America’s fiscal crisis, but a lack of courage and will,” he said. “The so-called ‘fiscal cliff’ is a Washington-made problem – the result of years of last-minute deals designed to avoid real solutions. But, eventually Washington must face the fiscal abyss left in the wake of too much spending, too much borrowing, and too much government.”
Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., made a related point on Morning Joe when asked to comment on how little time Congress had to review the bill before they had to cast their votes.
“It’s a huge problem,” Toomey said, per the Washington Free Beacon. “But I would argue, this goes back to the dysfunctional senate we have, largely. The House passed a budget the last two years. And I think — and Senate Republicans have put budgets on the senate floor. If any one of them were operative, we’d be on a sustainable path right now. But Senator Reid and the Democratic majority think that it’s acceptable not to even have is a budget . . . So no wonder our back’s up against the wall at midnight and we get this terrible deal that’s thrown in our laps that nobody’s had enough chance to look at. it’s because we haven’t gone through a proper, sensible process in the first place.”
