CNN

[...] House GOP proposes $375 billion in budget reductions [...]

I agree with some of the previous posters. Eliminate the perks given to politicians and that will save quite a bit of money. Why not let them live the same lives as their constituents? It will give them a greater understanding of our concerns.

Also, if you're going to cap spending to inflation levels, cap ALL of it. Not just non-defense spending; cap everything except emergency spending, and to get that, the President should have to justify it to Congress AND the American people. It's OUR money they're spending.

Quite frankly, I'm tired of having to fork up taxpayer money to companies that will not be required to give it back 100%. In fact, we as taxpayers have forfeited billions to the automakers that will never be repaid. I'm not getting value for my money, and isn't that the idea of capitalism? Satisfying demand? I'm not satisfied.

I actually applaud the republicans for coming up with something for the first time since, well, uhh...since forever. Now, if they can balance it by cutting some more defense to replace some of the underfunding on projects they trashed at the detriment of LIVES here in AMERICA..then we should be able to compromise.

By all means, let's compromise. Get some of that defense spending to compensate for it as well. Make it 50/50 to include defense spending as well.

We're all ears, as long as you are sincere in 'compromising' rather then being closed minded and unable to do what's BEST for the country rather then whats best for YOURSELVES.

@ Henry Miller

Oh yeah Henry, if you think "entitlement" programs are a waste (and I agree there is some), then I have a $1,000 toilets and $500 hammers for you that came from the defense budget. Inflation is a bugger ain't it? Have a nice day.

Rejoice, It seems like a plan from the Republicans at last. I hope these are good ideas because Bad ideas will not help the country or the party. As long as the cuts don't effect improving education, fixing health care, and encouraging innovation in the field of energy, I think the plan is worth looking at. I also don't want anymore cuts from military budget but i don't think the Republicans would do that....

There may be good idea in it, so i wont be so fast to say to hell with them. But i dont want to see cuts in the baisc things we everyday people use and need for the future. Education, healthcare, and revbuilting the condition of travel and actural project that can help prove the countries inferstructer.

2-we spend more oney than the next 50 countries combined in defence and military spending. I think we can cut that alittle bit.

No more tax cut for the corporation and wealthly, i dont mind paying higer taxes if i get better healthcare, education for myself and future kids.

Did republican acturally believe anyone could tackle healthcare problem without spend billions of dollar to change it. com on and think the health care corporation would do it with a fight. This is so essiential to us to fix this. you cant fix your house without spending the money to do it.

did republicans think you can tackle healthcare, ready to work projects now on 5cent to the dollar.

Well, that's a step forward from their pathetic budget proposal of two-dozen pages without any numbers from March. Republicans need to start making it a habit to actually come up with alternate plans before they open their mouth for criticism. Criticism without alternate plans would just lead them to the same wasteland democrats were in during 2002 and 2004 when they were kicked out in elections.

Now the GOP pretends to get religion on money.....just when a DEmocrat is in office. How convenient

@Henry Miller

You are an idiot. The majority of people who utilize entitlement programs want to work, but can not find it. Or if they do they do not earn a "living wage" – meaning earning enough for the basic necessities...food, clothing, shelter. And if you think they are too dumb, might that be because the "educational system" they had was woefully inadequate to prepare them. The budget should be balanced, but equally the correct appropriation of available funds should be used to build a better U.S. infrastructure, intelligence and competitiveness, and not "spread democracy" (which translates as capitalism) with our military might – to make the rich richer. Yes, there are lazy bad apples who abuse our system, but that just means we need to improve the systems to prevent fraud/ abuses. And indeed there are lazy rich people who abuse the system – tax shields, produce nothing, et al yet reap the rewards in excess. So, they are NO BETTER.

[...] reports on House Republicans' efforts to get serious about cutting the budget: The House Republican leadership upped the ante Thursday in the ongoing debate over the size and [...]

"The bulk of the GOP's proposed savings would come from capping non-defense discretionary spending at the level of inflation."

Don't you dummies read? He offered CAPPING not CUTTING, that means limiting the growth of that spending to match inflation.

I agree we should not spedn so much, yet we can't not spend. There are programs that MUST be funded, like healthcare for children and elders and education. The GOP said already they want to eliminate social security and reduce education and pell grants, while Obama wants to increase Pell grants to send more folks to college.I'd like to see more details from the GOP too. Fact is, Obama promised these things in his campaign and now he's trying to deliver.So why does it come as a surprise??? I agree Congress are paid too much, so cut that. As for the earmarks, well they can create jobs. For example, in Rep. Bobby Bright of Alabama asks for say $1 million for a new exit from the interstate in Montgomery, AL, its not bad. The exit can make way for a new company that will create 1000 jobs. Its happening where I am down in Alabama/Georgia.IN fact the local city govt used stimulkus funds to buy a building to lease to a comapny thats bringing 900 jobs to our city.

@ Melissa says,

"So the Republicans solution is "lets cut back on everything that might help anyone in any way while keeping our military spending exactly the same no matter what happens".

Does anyone else see the idiocy in this idea?"

-----------------

Melissa – have you finished High School? Really I'm not being sarcastic.

I'm asking because I'm just curious if you have EVER had to provide for a roof over your head, pay your own bills, etc?

In WHICH economics course did you learn that when you get into financial struggles... you should run up your credit cards maxing them out and while simultaneously handing out gifts to foreigners??

Does THAT not sound insane to you???

In a recent poll, DEFENSE, was one area that garnered a lot of support, as an area Americans were willing to cut. I support cutting the defense budget thereby, lowering the deficit. Another area to cut, would be congressional, discretionary, spending allowances, along with their wages and eliminate legislative"fact finding" trips. Everyone can think is areas that the government can reduce spending, and the GOP should point the finger at themselves, FIRST.

Admittedly I haven't read it, however, based on this article my preliminary guess is that it translates as...1. Maintain and/ or increase military spending. Why? Because this is the power we have left in the world and so many do despise us. 2. Make the rich richer. We do not care about everyone else. 3. Protect the rich. We know a lot of people are upset about us making more money while producing nothing and depleting the worlds resources. GOP, your dream world is just about to end.

Cut the Obama campaigning tours, and paybacks to ACORN and all the other corrupt organizations that funded the campaign.

The party of D'oh will not be able to make cuts, because they'll want to supply something for free to someone that could possibly supply a vote....

@ DUTCH – maybe the reason it took them this long is they actually read it; unlike pelosi and crew....who pencil whip every bill...

Capping spending on "non-defense discretionary spending" means advancements in science, technology, education, health care, etc. go down the tubes. That's progress? I guess to a Republican, it is. As long as we still have the ability to kick every other nation's ass, it's all good.

This is terrible. Republicans will spend trillions of dollars tearing apart, then rebuilding countries halfway around the name of world... nothing in this bill limits this, because we do it in the name of "defense." But god forbid you should actually move to overhaul or fix any of the problems in *this* country. Charity begins at home, "conservatives" used to know that.

Jim in El Paso,

You are an idiot.

Details Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so...the leading GOP will go on record with "their" cut backs to "their states? Right? Great.

Why didn't bush and group feel the need to cut back all they spent......?
You know the Iraq war,etc?

Maybe since cheney feels like talking so much.....and changeing history(on tape), he could spend a few to let us know why, HE "felt" the need for allllllllllllllllllllllllll they spent in the last 8 years..............................................that lead to this mess.

I didn't hear him...........did he say something?

It's time for the Military Industrial Complex to take a back seat for a while since Bush did nothing except give them a blank check for all these years just like daddy did before him!

Wasn't it Republican president George W. Bush that started the spending spree? Did he not inherit a budget surplus from the previous Democratic president? Isn't the gross amount of spending a primary reason why the Republicans lost control of Congress in the first place?

Maybe some congressmen need to review more history than just the past 8 months.

How about we get rid of all but 2 essential staff members for all House and Senate members while we're at it.

Just watch how fast the Dems reject this GOP proposal. Dems just can't help themselves when it comes to spending taxpayer's money. Those who vote Democrat, and especially those who voted for the Fraud in the White House will regret what they have done to our nation.

BTW, AJ, stop relying on the Daily Kos for all you info.

another thing about their budget, are they going to put the two wars into the Budget or not? Bush did not do that... We need to see this and if they did not, welcome back BUSHISM

Why does it always have to be non-defense budget cuts with these clowns? Where is the proof that the pentagon doesn't waste any money?

I hope they have the details in play this time. Last time Boehner look kind of stupid at the podium with no answers to nothing.

The specifics are shown on other news outlets that are not biased as much as CNN.

People always talk about the last eight years this and that; however Congress (the legislative branch that controls the $$) has been in control since 2006. The Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan also are merely a drop in the bucket compared to the trillions Obama is spending (Check the figures). There are valid points on both sides of the isle); however, I encourage the readers of theis site to branch out from ultra-liberal media. Looking at a multitude of sources helps to eliminate bias and come up with educational rather than biased opinions.

RE: Ren from Baltimore, you're right it is lazy to say just cut some % out of the budget and let each manager figure it from there. But it is a start, it's much better than '....tax too much spend too much....' nonsense that we've seen thus far.
It seems to me that we have a starting point to discuss a solution. The Dems made a proposal, the Republicans made a counter offer, now it's time to take the next step. Since cutting "social programs" is on the table, then how about closing the military base in Japan or Germany or both? Let's get a real negotiation going to stop the red ink. WE know that taxes will go up, but what else can we do to reverse the last 30 years of recless spending.

For many posting here, I hope you don't buy things for your kids at Christmas that require assembly. Probably a lot of heart-broken kids out there because the parents can't read or follow instructions!

They aren't proposing to CUT programs, they propose to CAP spending at the rate of inflation. What that means is if a program costs $100 dollars this year and inflation is 3%, that next year the program gets $103.

As one commenter already stated, correctly, that the Constitution provides for the common defense. John McCain et. al. are currently looking into reforming defense acquisitions, let his task force complete its job.

Sorry Dace, the record for deficits held by Bush and crew were short-lived. We've just exceeded them with this years budget, but hey, records were made to be broken, right?

I think that's a great start. But I think we need to eliminate some programs altogether rather than just keep bad stuff running. First of all, eliminate all the faith-based efforts, it'll save money and get around the complaint that it is against separation of church and state.

We need to cut other programs as well. But we do need more money to revamp the health care situation. The carbon cap and trade and energy should be pay as you go. If the republicans don't want to phase it in and want to tax everyone heavily, that's their decision. What tax increases do the republicans propose? Surely, we can cut the deficit by raising taxes on people who are not putting their money to work in the economy.

Remember how the government defines a spending cut. If the budget calls for a 5% spending increase for Program X, but it gets reduced to a 3% increase, that is a spending cut according to our so-called "leaders." Only government would call a reduction in increase a cut.

I don't get it since 2001 domestic spending on programs have shrunk by about 4% since that time while in the same time period our defense spending has gone up almost 9% to almost 30% of our budget!!! Why are we spending almost 1/3 of our money on defense but only 3/20ths on domestic spending. Someone try to explain it to me! It's obsurd we are the most powerful nation on earth we don;t need to be pulling a china and spend double what we do on defense that we do on out own people!!!

Hey Henry Miller: What YOU fail to understand is the bigger free give-a-ways were given to the BIG OIL Companies by Dubya and the GOP. These freebies they gave away to buy their votes and campaign donations. Please.... deny it!!!

Funny... you make a point of 'free health care' when such a deal has NEVER existed... but can't make a point of 'free tax breaks' to BIG OIL when those really did exist.

So you're right... we need to eliminate the give-a-ways!! Let's cut all the tax breaks for the wealthy... tax breaks for Big Oil and Big Pharm... no-bid contracts to Halleburton and KBR... let's stop payment to companies that don't deliver on military materials... that's how you cut budgets... eliminate the give-a-ways!!! Let's start with the wealthy and Big Business first....

I'm a full time Democrat and I have to say that I am a little annoyed at my fellow "liberals" commenting on this. You realize that according to the story, they are not even proposing real cuts, just capping the growth of Government spending.

Yes, it is unfortunate that these cuts do not come out of our bloated DOD, but on the other hand, defense cuts usually mean pay decreases for soldiers. The only way to cut defense spending is to end one of our wars and that is another argument all together.

The truth is, according to this story (which is a light on details), the GOP is doing what the GOP is supposed to do: promoting small government policy solutions.

At least they're trying. They see that any idea can be overturned by the democrats. We would save a lot of money by having TERM LIMITS. 6 years for congress, 8 years for Senate. Special interests wouldn't have as much time to buy the way they want America to be.

Jim El Paso Tx. June 4th, 2009 12:58 pm ET
Cantor says we can't spend money we don't have….wasn't much of a problem when Bushy was dumping BILLIONS on that hell hole Iraq though was it. Repukes make me do just that…PUKE!
-------------------
Jim, I am guessing you are hating the deficit piling on by this administration as well as how they are keeping the Bush policies in Iraq and elsewhere, right? Puke away, my friend, puke away!

Tax cuts, military spending and slashing everything else = republican so called plan, the exact same plan that plunged us into a recession.

I have a way to at least double the proposed savings of the republicans. STOP spending on all pork, ear-mark projects for 5 years. Cut salaries at all levels of the federal government. Cut perks and rhip bs for 5-10 years. Stop favoritism for companies like Haliburton and other contractors at inflated cost to the US taxpayer. If their are cost overruns both major political parties pick up the tab not us. Get rid of influence peddlers. Cap the number of jobs that can be outsourced, especially manufacturing jobs. Tax all fairly, including businesses and religions, and spend only what you raise from the year before. Blackbox social security and medicare funds. What the republicans propose is just the tip of the iceberg about what needs to be done.

House Dems should either agree with these cuts or propose different cuts for the same or greater amount. We can't deficit spend ourselves into prosperity without consequences. Why can't we privatize Amtrak as well? And sell advertising space on the postage stamp.

Why don't we start by cutting their big fat pensions and putting them into the same social security system the rest of us are in; where they put in more money in and will get less out in the end like the rest of us; that should help the budget and fix our social security system too.

Lets be real, this crisis wasn't created recently with President Obama, its this neverending war we're in that until recently had no budget to adhere to and worst of all it is all based on fiction. Granted, I love our troops and pray for their safety, but they're not the ones getting rich, if anything they're getting shafted with their crappy pay and benefits and PTSD they're left with after; they're the losers in the end because noone is watching out for them and their well being.

Can't understand this gross hypocracy,for eight years were you guys all dead?Plz,give me a brake.

The Republican party has spent decades concentrating defense industries in republican states and now they want to exempt those expenses from potential savings.

The biggest pork spending going on today is the defense industry with phony research projects, procurement of war material that is not needed by the military and other wasteful spending. Until the republican party admits to the trillions of dollars wasted in their districts, they have no place at the negotiating table.

haha overspend not everspend...hmm...maybe everspend is correct.

Bottom line is that Democrats tend to everspend on "entitlement" programs and Republicans tend to spend on defense. What we need is someone that will "moderate" the two groups. It is time we pull back out of Iraq which should cut down on defense spending. We should also help folks that can't help themselves to a CERTIAN degree. Not to the point where they are dependent on it for a long time, but gets them through the rough times. No more free rides or 900 dollar hammers. My taxes are high enough.

If indeed the GOP plan is simply for capping domestic spending at current levels plus inflation, they are avoiding the hard work of prioritizing by eliminating things that don't work or are less important so that we have additional funds to support those things that do and are. I'm all about finding more effective and efficient ways of dealing with urgent national issues, but the GOP often doesn't even acknowledge the fact that the issues are urgent or even the business of government to discuss.

Let me guess, they cut anything that will help people. Gotta make sure you keep that money for big companies and defense contractors.

Vote your party's challenger in the primary.

RE-ELECT NO ONE!
Incumbent Dump – 2010

535 random strangers chosen by cold calling the phone book would do a better job in Congress. They couldn't possibly do any worse.

Demand constitutional amendments for term limits, balanced budgets, a flat tax and the complete dismantling of the IRS (Income Redistribution System).

And if you think I'm just a "right wing" nut job, I'd be willing to accept 535 random American citizens elected off the street (who incidentally happen to vote Democrat) rather than the current batch of incumbent politicians. 535 empty chairs would be an improvement.

Cantor says we can't spend money we don't have....wasn't much of a problem when Bushy was dumping BILLIONS on that hell hole Iraq though was it. Repukes make me do just that...PUKE!

Cutting out Obama's apology road trip tours ought to do it.

The bulk of the GOP's proposed savings would come from capping non-defense discretionary spending at the level of inflation. ...

I'd like to see the details ... cutting school lunch programs, Pell grants for education, funding for science? More money for the military and little for the average American who is paying the bill. They're back!

Wow, you people don't care what the headline is as long as it involves Republicans, you just jump on the hate wagon. Maybe you should inform yourselves by reading what they are proposing instead of spewing your hatred.

@ Henry Miller:

Absolutely correct.

As far as defense spending – the common defense is one of the few powers originally given to the federal govenrment by the constitution.

When entitlement programs and interest to service the loans to support them become the lion's share of the budget, you know we're in deep deep guano.

@Donna from Colorado Springs

What you fail to understand, or choose to ignore, is that cutting budgets isn't about cutting essential services like keeping streets passable. It's about eliminating all the freebies politicians like to give people to buy votes.

I suspect you never heard a politician promise, "Vote for me and I'll make sure your street get plowed when it snows!" No, they say things like, "Vote for me and I'll make sure you get free health care."–ignoring the minor detail that health care is never free. The only thing a government can do is try to make someone else pay your medical bills. The same is true of all those other give-aways–every single give-away is a take-away from someone else.

That's how you cut budgets–eliminate the give-aways.

They'd rather not keep American money in their own country, spent on their own people, and want to spend it on foreign wars.

NO. Do you Republicans not get it? The answer is NO. We the people are your boss and you WILL listen to us. Cut the military spending, bring the soldiers home, and spend the money on things like education, health care, and other things that will actually help your people.

Enough is enough.

@Brandon June 4th, 2009 12:37 pm ET

Previous years AND CURRENT YEAR. I love how liberals reach over the disaster in their own party to point at someone else!

I think our Government officials should take a 10% decrease in pay. AND, some of their "expenses" are nothing more that "I want".

We need to take our country back from the thieves - on both sides of the aisle.

Vote the rascals out until we get a batch that works FOR US.

(Bet they take their one month paid vacation and let everything else go). How many of us get one month paid vacation? plus all the other "breaks"?

@Bob,

The total cost of all the pork is a small fraction of a one percent of the budget. The real expense is the vast collection of "entitlement" programs–all those subsidies for people too lazy to work or too dumb to take care of themselves that entitle them to raid your wallet.

"non-defense discretionary spending at the level of inflation...."

More details please ... betting the cuts will come in health care, school lunch programs, Pell grants for education, everything to do with science and the environment .... things most people care about.

As for "delegating?" – that's what intelligent people do – rather than being the only "decider". TEAM – Together Each Accomplishes More.

Kudos to the Republican leadership.

There is also huge amount of wastage in military spending that needs to be address. Republicans need to address that too.

They are saying that they want to stop spending money they don't have. This will be a nice change of pace from previous years when they were more than happy to spend money the government didn't have.

If Congress is serious about the Budget, how about having the Oil companies pay on the oil leases on Government land ! What about discontinuing tax credits to a group of companies, who have over the last 8 years generated highest profits in the history of their companies. Why not scrub our revenue stream, first and then have budget reductions. Why can't we have a ban on all outside aid, until we balance our budget !

@Dace Tucson June 4th, 2009 12:18 pm ET
The same can be said for President Obama, who said the deficit is not sustainable yet the debt load is being piled upon! Easy is rant and rave about the Republicans when you good and well know the Dems are no better!

@AJ June 4th, 2009 12:00 pm ET
Republican spending is used to further enrich Republicans and their fat cat friends? You mean like George Soros, the Rockefellers and ACORN?
I love how you point fingers at the republicans (some of it justified) when the dems have the same skeletons. Help clean up your OWN party! I guarantee you will not have the energy to accuse the reps of anything once you see the mess in your party!

Bernanke said that we have to quit spending. When will the liberal NUTS in Congress understand this? Would ONE Obama voter please tell me how we are going to repay the deficit? Obama has lied to us since everyone's taxes are going up dramatically.

Figures they of course want more military spending and cut EVERYTHING else. Where are their tax cuts? They've got to be in there somewhere. Where was their so called fiscal conservatism when bush was spending like a drunken sailor?

While I find it refreshing that they may actually have some sort of proposal or maybe even an idea, they still have the same line for the military budget. The only way this country will ever get back on track is to let go a bit of our pride and stop looking at ourselves as the "world's only superpower" or the "policemen of the world". Look to the USSR as an example of where too much military spending can lead.

We need to seriously debate where our priorities lie and how we can realistically and drastically cut our defense budget.

I think that Christian thing to do would be to help those that are less fortunate and provide health care for ALL our people instead of more "death from above".

Don't get me wrong, I think that F22 Raptor is a bad ass fighter and would love to take a ride, but we need to let the rest of the world start to take an equall responsibility in protecting our common interests.

After years of working at the corporate level, sending down "budget adjustment" challenges, let me make this observation: The laziest, most blow-hard of the team members were those who sent back "salami-slicing" recommendations. They said, "cut the bottom 10 percent" of programs, "cut each department by 5 percent," or some such nonsense. They did not want to undertake the real work it took to examine what was cost-effective, what was needed to thrive versus what was nice-to-have or "special purpose."

This laziness, or lack of ideas, is certainly the order of the day from the Republican Party. I'd hoped for better from Kantor, but it turns out he just looks the part of a good politician-he certainly hasn't done anyone in this country one iota of good.

Should they just openly admit they're out of ideas as to how to repair the broad damage their party has committed against the nation? Or is this kind of fiscal response just such an admission? Maybe so.

Funny... not a single one of these *supposedly* fiscally responsible Republicans could find their voice when Dubya was spending money our government didn't have. Not a single one of them could be bothered to speak up then... Where were their budget reductions and common-sense taxpayer savings then? Right... the only tax-savings were given to the most wealthy!!

These same GOP Congressmen voted lock, stock and barrel with Dubya's wishes and gave him everything he wanted while he blew the budget surplus and started borrowing billions and billions from China.

But that was OK... because Dubya was a Republican and that made it OK!!!!! What a bunch of moronic hypocrites... is it any wonder why these people got voted out of office the last two elections?

I can't wait to see how many more will get voted out next election!!

Hey give them a chance. There are probably a few good ideas in there (just a few). I give 'em credit for coming up with an actual plan. Let's see what they propose. Seems some republicans are starting to get it. On the surface some have started to act more reasonable this past week. How long this will last remains to be seen. Have a nice day!

Come on the Democrats are running the show, they can and will do as they please. Where are the solutions from Nancy Pelosi?? All she can do is spend, spend and spend some more. Gotta go to the Republicans for commons sense, too bad Democrats can't and won't listen, so why waste our time asking?

Well Its about time But No changes from them Still the same ole same ole Maybe will get some Bi-Partisanship? lets hope

The party of no thought of a Budget? Wow is this on the front page of the Washington Post?

So is this like the Stimulus they said they had back in February and all it was, was tax cuts for the extreme rich and famous and the burden of the higher taxes falls on the shoulders of the middle class and the poor who live from Paycheck to paycheck, who make minimum wages. Protect the greedy CEO's?

Mmmm, we will see!

Anyone ever notice that Obamas is a great delegater? He is always asking them to do the work and present it to him. That we he can always say Not my fault, since the time limit has expired on blaming Bush for all of his mistakes!!

Yes, let's disband the government completely and just fund the military. That's the kind of country I want to live in.

Rather a insignificant amount in rather a broad unspecfic grouping. Lets see specifics and see who they have targeted for reductions. While I agree we need and have needed to curb governmental spending, I would like to see who specifically the GOP has determined is insignificant enough to receive reduced moneies.

The republicans are 8 years too late with their 'common sense taxpayer savings' proposals.

In the past 8 years the Republicans have not come up with a 'viable' proposal to anything. Be sure that the 'common sense' cuts are things like 'healthcare', 'education', 'infrastructure', 'alternative energy', or anything that promotes rational thought and growth for the 'American' people.

Maybe the republicans should really listen to President Obama's speech from Cairo. It was also clearly directed at our home grown 'extremist' republican party.

So the Republicans solution is "lets cut back on everything that might help anyone in any way while keeping our military spending exactly the same no matter what happens".

Does anyone else see the idiocy in this idea?

Once again, the GOP do not have any real solutions.

They'd rather not keep American money in their own country, spent on their own people, and want to spend it on foreign wars.

NO. Do you Republicans not get it? The answer is NO. We the people are your boss and you WILL listen to us. Cut the military spending, bring the soldiers home, and spend the money on things like education, health care, and other things that will actually help your people.

Enough is enough.

If they are so worried about our children's future now why did they destroy it for decades to come by the biggest deficit in the history of the world. And then go further to ruin the global economy and move all the decent jobs overseas and redistribute all the middle class wealth to the top 2% of the wealthiest Americans. They are hideous liars that have destroyed our country.

The question is – will Pelosi and Reid allow them to get to the floor in their respective chambers of congress?

If so, great. Perhaps a small step towards the bipartisanship they claim to espouse. If not – well, now that would speak volumes.

Another GOP generality. Generalities are used for and in propaganda. If you want your budget to be taken seriously then you must provide details. The budget isn't a new idea so details should not be a problem.

Yes they came up with something, however it's the same old policy, make tax cuts to everything except defense. Sound familiar? So even when the Pentagon says they don't need or want a system, the GOP will still insist on funding it. Seems like the New GOP is the same as the Old GOP.

As long as they listen the likes of Mush and the other goons...they will be the party of ...uh...no...I don't care what kind of ideas they come up with. And I totally agree with AJ 6/4/09/12:00pm

Am very interested in seeing all of their suggested cuts. And, am concerned the middle class Americans will be the victims.
There are so many ways spending can be cut, starting with the politicians theirselves. Their many perks, funds allowed for staff,
traveling, expenses and retirements cost us billions a year.
Departments doing duplicate work or no work at all. Firing
unproductive federal workers. Monitoring and eliminating waste
in the pentagon and their uncontrolled spending. There are billions that could be saved just by cleaning their own back yards.
Have they addressed any of these?

What are the reductions? How about some details, CNN? How can anyone have an opinion on this without any details? I mean, I am glad the GOP is up from their nap but, this is a non-story story.

"The bulk of the GOP's proposed savings would come from capping non-defense discretionary spending at the level of inflation."

Basically the GOP in a nutshell... Cut taxpayer spending that affects taxpayers, but we need more helicopters, aircraft carriers, bombs, obscene defense contracts, etc...

The American militay budget could be cut in half and we would still spend more on defense than the whole world combined! The Military Industrial Complex still controls America and has the GOP in it's back pocket!

I'm sure there are a few things in here that would make sense, but knowing the GOP... I'm pretty sure most of these suggestions wont be taken seriously and are just more attacks on the American Middle Class in the long run...

Tax cuts and less spending is all they ever talk about. But, what they fail to understand is than come this winter when their city or town has no more money left in their budget to plow the streets, these ignorant Republicans can look in the mirror and see exactly why!

Why doesn't he ask the Democrats to do the same? Does he want the Republicans to take the blame for taking away someones freebies that they now enjoy at our expense? Let's start with cutting any benefits given to those here illegally. That was easy, next!

It will be interesting to see what all this bill entails. From the short description, it looks like the American public will again be short-changed to the benefit of the military and their wealthy contractors. I will be looking for more details.

not spending money??? this will never fly with The Messiah...

now, if they apologize......you know...for being Americans...well, maybe

Jon in Ca said:

Obama asked Republicans to come up with budget reductions… not to implement… but to use as wedge issues for constitutents.

"SEE SEE those Republicans don't care about you!! They want to cut funding for government-funded transgender operations for prisoners!!"
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It's better to be thought of as a fool Jon, than to say something and remove all doubts.

The GOP is using this as a ploy to get away from the healthcare reform debate, to protect their big pharma and HMO donors. No one is convinced. Why pull the cuts out while the President is out of the country? Cowards.

This is a good thing. As an Obama supporter, I do believe that he and the congrational dems need to review this purposal. And I certainly hope they can find ways to cut spending as I firmly believe there is much waste.

Fair play to the GOP, so long as their cuts are reasonable and defensible. It's about time.

They could have offered their proposal without the smarmy, defiant tone, though.

Good. I can't wait to see specifics and if they are indeed an honest effort at reducing spending – and hopefully not on the backs of those who have the least amount of lobbyists in D.C.

About time.

Common sense and Republican should never be used in the same sentence.

It took these guys this long to come up with this plan? I guess something is better than nothing.

If Congress is really serious about reducing expending they should eliminate all "pork" projects. In my view, the pork spending amounts to fraud, waste and abuse of taxpayer funds.

Obama asked Republicans to come up with budget reductions... not to implement... but to use as wedge issues for constitutents.

"SEE SEE those Republicans don't care about you!! They want to cut funding for government-funded transgender operations for prisoners!!"

The GOP rarely does anything for the sake of common sense and they are hardly the ones to be throwing stones regarding out of control spending. Since the "Republican Revolution" congress has been like a runaway cash train. The big difference is that while Democrats spend to help boost the standard of living for the average Joe, Republican spending is used to further enrich Republicans and their fat cat friends.

What took them so long to realize that they can't just say no?!? They have to propose alternatives too. Finally, some signs of intelligence within the GOP. I voted Obama, but I'm glad the GOP has done this.