On Wednesday, Florida Republicans divided as the U.S. House voted to approve the budget deal crafted by the White House and outgoing U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, which raises the debt ceiling through March 2017.
Despite Boehner and incoming U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., backing the measure, most of the support for the deal came from Democrats in the minority as 187 of them joined 79 Republicans to pass the deal on a 266-167 vote.
While Democrats fell in line behind the measure, conservative Republicans broke against it. In the Florida delegation, all of the Democrats supported the deal as did Republican U.S. Reps. Vern Buchanan, Ander Crenshaw, Carlos Curbelo, Mario Diaz-Balart, David Jolly, John Mica and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. Florida Republican U.S. Reps. Gus Bilirakis, Ron DeSantis, Jeff Miller, Rich Nugent, Bill Posey, Tom Rooney, Dennis Ross, Dan Webster and Ted Yoho voted against it.
Diaz-Balart insisted on Wednesday night that the budget deal would help ensure federal programs would continue, help defense and bolster the economy.
"The two year budget deal will help to stabilize our nation's economy,” Diaz-Balart said. “First and foremost, the budget prevents President Obama from continuing his political games with our national security, allowing Congress to support our troops with the additional resources they need. It also provides necessary entitlement reform by strengthening the Social Security program and the Disability Insurance Trust fund, and protecting seniors from a devastating 50 percent increase to their Medicare Part B premiums. The budget deal also eliminates the wasteful auto-enrollment mandate from the president's health-care law. The mandate forced employees to auto-enroll in their employers' health-care coverage, leaving them to pay for expensive insurance they might not want or need.
"I want to thank Speaker Boehner for his leadership on this momentous budget deal,” Diaz-Balart added. “This once again shows his commitment to the American people and our country, even down to the last hours of his time as a member of Congress."
Representing parts of the First Coast which contain naval bases, Crenshaw also stressed the deal’s impact on the military as he made his case for why he supported it.
“Against a ticking clock, we must take decisive action and enact the framework of conservative principles provided in the two-year bipartisan budget agreement,” Crenshaw said. “This fiscally responsible plan moves us toward a stronger national security, a bolder economy, and long-overdue certainty in the appropriations process.
“In a dangerous world with our military hard at work, an economy yearning to grow and create jobs, and our children and grand-children hoping for a brighter future, that’s exactly where we need to be,” Crenshaw insisted. “Sooner rather than later.”
But other Florida Republicans insisted the bill did little to solve the fiscal problems in Washington and hammered how it was crafted.
Despite being part of the GOP leadership as senior deputy majority whip, Ross voted against the bill on Wednesday.
“I voted against the budget bill today because it negates any real reforms to our ever increasing debt limit,” Ross said. “Our outstanding debt totals a nauseating amount of more than $18 trillion, and this bill further lifts our national borrowing limit for another two years with no set limit in sight. This deal gives President Obama a credit card with no spending limit in his last and most dangerous year.
“This bill also makes detrimental cuts to the current crop insurance program, which will greatly harm Florida agriculture,” Ross continued. “Florida’s farming industry continues to be in peril, suffering from historically low production rates, drastic income declines, and natural disasters. The crop insurance program is the most valuable tool farmers have in their risk management plans. This budget is another nail in the coffin for our farming communities, at a time when we should be doing everything we can to protect the heart and soul of Florida agriculture.
“Furthermore, and once again, this budget deal was reached behind closed doors without any regular order in process,” Ross said in conclusion. “This is unacceptable. We have ample time to fully vet and negotiate our budget bills, yet we continuously stall until a fiscal cliff is reached before taking any action. There is absolutely no excuse for this crisis-to-crisis governing. I simply could not in good conscience vote for this bill knowing the damage it will cause to our economy and farmers. I promise to continue fighting for regular order and conservative budgeting within Congress.”
Yoho also slammed the process, insisting the bill was “hastily thrown together.” He also opposed the deal for raising the debt ceiling and relying on funds from Medicare and Social Security for other expenses.
“I believe the Bipartisan Budget Act that was brought before the House today is a bad bill and wrong for America,” Yoho said. “The nature in which it was negotiated and pushed off onto members is symbolic of what is wrong with the political process in Congress and is exactly what angers the majority of Americans.
“I attempted to block this bill from coming to the floor by voting against the House rule, which would have prevented it from even coming up for an official vote,” Yoho added. “The American people deserve better from their government. They deserve a budget that does more to tackle the main contributors to our national debt and places us on a sound fiscal path; not a budget that is negotiated in secret, with little to no input from their representatives and actually increases our debt. Debt doesn’t discriminate, it doesn’t know party affiliation, and if the establishment continues to ignore it, it will bring us all down.”
While Republicans from the Sunshine State divided on the deal, Florida Democrats were behind it.
“Congress took time out from its abusive Benghazi hearings and assault on Planned Parenthood to do the real business of our country,” U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Fla., said after backing it. “This bipartisan deal boosts jobs, protects seniors from rising Medicare costs, and paves the way for investments in research, education, and veterans’ health care.”
U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., also backed the agreement.
“This landmark budget agreement will help provide an economic boost to hard-working families and our entire community,” Castor said. “The bipartisan agreement will boost jobs and investments tied to medical research at Moffitt and USF, to education at local schools and colleges, to national defense at MacDill AFB and much more.
“Thanks to President Obama's leadership, Republican Speaker Boehner's willingness to reach across the aisle, and Democrats' vociferous advocacy for Medicare and Social Security, the bipartisan budget agreement breaks a major impasse that had stalled progress on many issues for months,” Castor continued. “The bill protects Medicare and Social Security and incorporates safeguards from a bill I cosponsored that heads off significant hikes to Medicare Part B."
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
