re: Massie says Congress isn't serious about spending cuts

If tax cuts pay for themselves, why don't we make taxes 1% since it will pay for itself?

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They are too afraid of losing their next election.

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Time to start the term limits discussion.

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If tax cuts pay for themselves, why don't we make taxes 1% since it will pay for itself?

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ok...sounds awesome

LINK

When the pain hits home, Republicans balk at Trump's spending cuts and tariffs
From reducing NIH funding to slashing USAID's food program to imposing new tariffs, GOP lawmakers are beginning to speak out — carefully — against some of Trump's actions.

Feb. 12, 2025, 7:25 PM EST
By Sahil Kapur

WASHINGTON — Republicans on Capitol Hill are full of praise for President Donald Trump’s flurry of executive actions and attempts to slash some federal spending, selling it as the kind of disruption that Americans voted for last fall.

That is, until the pain risks hitting home for their constituents.

From cuts to health and agriculture funding to fears of new tariffs negatively impacting local industries and consumers, Republican lawmakers are starting to push back against certain aspects of Trump's plans. And they are doing so carefully, acknowledging that voters want to shake up business-as-usual in the nation’s capital — and wanting to avoid Trump’s ire.

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., recently pushed back on the administration’s funding reductions under the National Institutes of Health. The University of Alabama at Birmingham is a major recipient of that money, which has helped make it the state’s largest employer. Britt told AL.com that “a smart, targeted approach is needed in order to not hinder life-saving, groundbreaking research at high-achieving institutions like those in Alabama.”

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said the cap on indirect costs under NIH grants was “poorly conceived” and would impose “arbitrary cuts in funding for vital research at our Maine institutions.”

And Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., warned that universities that lack “big endowments” would lose out the most due to the NIH cuts. “It’ll be very difficult for them to conduct this research. And so, of course, I want people in Louisiana to benefit from research dollars, and for it to not all go to Massachusetts and California,” Cassidy said. “So I am in active conversation with my folks back home, and am researching the issue.”

SNIP

A coalition of Republicans in rural states and districts, including House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn Thompson, of Pennsylvania, introduced legislation this week to save the Food for Peace program by transferring it to the Department of Agriculture. “For 70 years, Kansas and American farmers have played an active role in sending their commodities to feed malnourished and starving populations around the world. This free gift from the American people is more than food. It’s diplomacy and feeds the most vulnerable communities,” Rep. Tracey Mann, R-Kan., said in a statement.

Trump’s tariffs have also ruffled feathers among some of his otherwise solid allies on Capitol Hill. That includes Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa — the Senate president pro tempore and chair of the Judiciary Committee — who protested when Trump threatened to levy tariffs on imports from Canada. Grassley, citing “Biden inflation,” noted the high cost of fertilizer and asked for an exemption that protects Iowa farmers.