Rep. Thompson's Pay/Go Motion Narrowly Defeated

Fighting to restore fiscal responsibility in the Congress, Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) today offered a motion on the House floor that would apply Pay/Go rules to all spending and revenue measures. Thompson's motion would have directed the House to adopt Senate budget language that includes Pay/Go rules. Throughout the budget process the House Republican Leadership has balked at multiple opportunities to include Pay/Go rules in the budget resolution. “Spring is a time of March Madness and clearly the Republican Leadership has fallen under its spell. However, the sport that comes to mind is baseball, today the Republicans had a fourth chance to hit a Pay/Go homerun” Thompson said. · Strike Oneâ€"March 17, 2004, The House Budget Committee votes down a Pay/Go Amendment on party lines · Strike Twoâ€"March 24, 2004, The House Rules Committee ruled out of order a Pay/Go amendment on a party-line vote. · Strike Threeâ€"March 25, 2005, The House approved a budget that had no Pay/Go rules, again by a party-line vote. · Strike Fourâ€"March 30, 2004, The House defeats the Thompson motion 209-209 The Republican leadership kept the vote open until they switched enough votes to defeat it. “This is just another example of the Republican leadership impeding democracy by twisting enough arms to advance their agenda.” Thompson said. “Today's vote shows there are a number of Republicans who agree with the need for Pay/Go-- their leadership just won't allow it.” Thompson, who serves on the House Budget Committee, has worked to ensure fiscal responsibility in government throughout his tenure in elected office. Thompson served as the Chairman of the California State Senate Budget Committee where he balanced the state budget five times. In Congress he is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of moderate to conservative Democrats focused on fiscal responsibility. ###