A.G. Gancarski
The congressional districts of Democrat Corrine Brown and Republican Ron DeSantis abut each other in Northeast Florida. It’s appropriate there’s a boundary line between their districts, since a more than symbolic line exists between their thinking on current issues, as was exhibited by this week’s vote on the federal budget.
The House approved the budget 266 to 167.
In an email Thursday, the DeSantis media shop noted that the congressman and GOP Senate hopeful “voted against the budget deal that eliminates billions in cuts from the 2011 debt limit agreement and raises the debt limit by $1.5 trillion,” before offering this statement from the candidate himself:
“The budget bill is the perfect encapsulation of why so many Americans are frustrated with Washington: it was crafted in secret, unveiled less than 48 hours before the vote, and relies on phony budget and accounting gimmicks to mask its startling level of fiscal irresponsibility.
“Because of this bill, our debt will reach nearly $20 trillion, $150 billion will be pilfered from Social Security, and President Obama will receive tens of billion of dollars for his pet projects. It’s like giving a shopaholic an unlimited credit card. This is what you call ‘business as usual in Washington, D.C.'”
Brown, meanwhile, extolled on Wednesday evening the virtues of the “bipartisan Budget agreement” that she supported:
“Today’s Budget Agreement shows that Congress recognizes the importance of domestic priorities that build a strong middle class and boost a growing economy, like education and research, by providing necessary dollars to fund a range of critical programs such as Head Start, and research funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Moreover, the bill would provide necessary resources for the Department of Defense (DOD) to ensure military readiness and help the Pentagon’s long-term planning process, which will allow for stable, multi-year budgeting that our nation’s defense deserves.
“In addition, the Budget Agreement would also prevent a 52% spike in Medicare Part B premiums in 2016 for the 30 percent of beneficiaries not covered by the “hold harmless” provision of the Social Security Act. In addition, the bill would eliminate the “benefit cliff” for the Social Security Disability Insurance Program (SSDI), which currently would take effect in 2016 by reallocating Social Security payroll taxes through 2022.
“The Budget Agreement would also provide much needed certainty to our economy, ensuring that our nation will pay its bills on time, suspending the debt ceiling until March 2017. Indeed, I am pleased to see that Congress has finally come together to work in a bipartisan manner to pass a budget for the American people, and we must now do the same and continue to work together to complete the appropriations bills for FY2016 and keep the federal government open.
These reactions serve two functional political purposes. They allow DeSantis to deliver red meat to the base in a crowded GOP Primary for Senate, and they allow Brown to take a majoritarian position.
