The House of Representatives just rejected a proposal by the conservative Republican Study Committee that would have returned non-security discretionary spending to 2008 levels.
The measure failed by an overwhelming 281 to 147 margin, with 92 Republicans voting “no.”
The idea behind the amendment was to keep with the GOP campaign pledge to cut annual spending by $100 billion. Its failure is likely to raise concerns that Republicans are not serious about reducing spending. Though I think a bigger indicator will be the 2012 budget that they unviel in April, which will include a 10-year deficit reduction plan. House Speaker John Boehner has insisted that the proposal will include enitlement reforms.
