Politics

American Conservative Union tells lawmakers to vote against Ryan budget deal

Alex Pappas Political Reporter
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The American Conservative Union is urging lawmakers to vote against the budget deal co-authored by Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, according to a letter obtained by The Daily Caller.

The House is expected to vote Thursday on the deal brokered by Ryan — the House budget chairman — and Democratic Sen. Patty Murray — who leads the Senate budget committee.

The deal would keep the government from shutting down again. But conservatives are not happy with the discretionary spending levels in the deal, which increases from the $967 billion mandated for 2014 under law to $1.012 trillion.

In his letter to chiefs of staff and legislative directors, Al Cardenas, the chairman of the American Conservative Union, argued the bill is “wrong on substance and wrong procedurally.” He lamented that it will be “voted on without debate over a month before the budget deadline.”

“While we understand the American people disdain government impasse and shutdowns, the cost of this proposal and its implications of accepting habitual massive debt spending is too big a price to pay for lifting this political deadlock,” he said.

Cardenas recommended that lawmakers not support the deal, which gets rid of some of the cuts from sequestration, the automatic cuts that have gone into effect across the government.

“Two years, ago, Congress agreed on spending restraints to slow down massive increases in the nation’s debt that has now reached $17 trillion,” he said. “Although it would have been better to agree on a rational system of cuts, the sequester provided the only budget discipline possible in a divided government.”

Added Cardenas: “We know from past experience that once the budget discipline is broken there is little or no chance it will be reinstated in future years.”

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