Republican Georgia Rep. Paul Broun, a member of the Tea Party caucus in the House, is arguing that Paul Ryan’s budget “fails” to really cut enough government spending.
In an op-ed published Tuesday in the New York Times titled, “Paul Ryan’s Ax Isn’t Sharp Enough,” Broun says the House GOP budget, “fails to seriously address runaway government spending, the most pressing problem facing our nation.”
“I cannot vote for something that would trick the American people into thinking that Congress is fixing Washington’s spending problem, when in actuality we’d just be allowing it to continue without end,” he wrote.
Last week, Ryan unveiled the House GOP’s budget proposal that would slash $4.6 trillion in projected government spending over the next decade in order to balance the country’s budget by 2023.
But Broun, who is running for the U.S. Senate in Georgia, argues deeper cuts should be made. “Just reducing growth in spending does almost nothing,” he said. “We have to dig deeper and make profound cuts now.”
Cuts proposed by Broun include eliminating the Departments of Education and Energy, which he says would save $500 billion over the next decade. He also calls for a balanced budget amendment.
“Rather than nibbling around the edges as the Ryan proposal does, we must do all of this and much more now,” Broun wrote. “There is a ‘Path to Prosperity,’ but Mr. Ryan’s budget isn’t it.”
Other House conservatives are pushing for more cuts: The conservative Republican Study Committee’s budget released Monday proposes to balance the budget by 2017.