Spending Hawks? Tea Party Votes Against Military Budget Cuts to the V-22 Osprey Program

Jim Cook 3/1/2011
[3] comments

On February 15 2011, Rep. Luis Gutierrez offered an amendment to H.R. 1 in the House of Representatives. H.Amdt 13 would have reduced the Navy and Air Force aircraft procurement budgets by $415,083,000 and moved that money into the Defense Department’s spending reduction account. Here was another chance for members of the Tea Party coalition in Congress to follow their pledges from the 2010 campaign that they would cut spending from the federal budget. Here’s a place for cuts to a huge program: the Pentagon itself agrees that its aircraft procurement budget is bloated.

In particular, Gutierrez’s amendment would have scrapped the long, drawn-out production of the V-22 Osprey, an airplane/helicopter hybrid that looks really cool as a model on your kid’s bookshelf but that costs a whopping $100 million apiece and has never met its production standards in deployment. Besides, it has frequently killed the people it is carrying. And yet Congress continues to vote it forward because production is distributed strategically across a number of members’ districts.

As Gutierrez puts it:

The Republicans say their proposal makes ‘tough choices,’ but this turkey should be a no-brainer. Cutting health care for women and children and slashing Head Start and community health centers should be the last cuts we make, not the first, especially when we are buying multi-million dollar airplanes that don’t fly like they’re supposed to…. Former Vice President and Defense Secretary Dick Cheney — who hasn’t met many defense programs he doesn’t like — tried to kill the V-22 program four times, so you get a sense for just how wasteful, unnecessary, and unsuccessful this airplane is.

Below is a list of the voting position of Tea Party members of the House of Representatives on the Gutierrez amendment, voting positions that you can check for yourself here. A YES vote is a vote to cut spending. A NO vote is a vote against spending cuts. As elsewhere at Irregular Times, Tea Party members of Congress are identified here from membership in the House Tea Party Caucus, endorsement by Tea Party Express or endorsement by self-proclaimed “Tea Party HQ” FreedomWorks.

The 12 Tea Party Members of Congress who voted to CUT SPENDING on the V22 Osprey:

Rep. Justin Amash (Republican-MI, District 3)
Rep. Charles Bass (Republican-NH, District 2)
Rep. John Campbell (Republican-CA, District 48)
Rep. Steven Chabot (Republican-OH, District 1)
Rep. Howard Coble (Republican-NC, District 6)
Rep. Dean Heller (Republican-NV, District 2)
Rep. Cynthia Lummis (Republican-WY, District 0)
Rep. Sue Myrick (Republican-NC, District 9)
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (Republican-CA, District 46)
Rep. Edward Royce (Republican-CA, District 40)
Rep. Frederick Upton (Republican-MI, District 6)
Rep. Greg Walden (Republican-OR, District 2)

 The 128 Tea Party Members of Congress who voted TO MAINTAIN spending on the V22 Osprey:

Rep. Robert Aderholt (Republican-AL, District 4)
Rep. Todd Akin (Republican-MO, District 2)
Rep. Rodney Alexander (Republican-LA, District 5)
Rep. Michele Bachmann (Republican-MN, District 6)
Rep. Lou Barletta (Republican-PA, District 11)
Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (Republican-MD, District 6)
Rep. Joe Barton (Republican-TX, District 6)
Rep. Dan Benishek (Republican-MI, District 1)
Rep. Rick Berg (Republican-ND, District 0)
Rep. Brian Bilbray (Republican-CA, District 50)
Rep. Gus Bilirakis (Republican-FL, District 9)
Rep. Rob Bishop (Republican-UT, District 1)
Rep. Mo Brooks (Republican-AL, District 5)
Rep. Paul Broun (Republican-GA, District 10)
Rep. Larry Bucshon (Republican-IN, District 8 )
Rep. Michael Burgess (Republican-TX, District 26)
Rep. Dan Burton (Republican-IN, District 5)
Rep. Ken Calvert (Republican-CA, District 44)
Rep. David Camp (Republican-MI, District 4)
Rep. Francisco Canseco (Republican-TX, District 23)
Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (Republican-WV, District 2)
Rep. John Carter (Republican-TX, District 31)
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (Republican-UT, District 3)
Rep. Mike Coffman (Republican-CO, District 6)
Rep. Tom Cole (Republican-OK, District 4)
Rep. Chip Cravaack (Republican-MN, District 8 )
Rep. Rick Crawford (Republican-AR, District 1)
Rep. Ander Crenshaw (Republican-FL, District 4)
Rep. John Culberson (Republican-TX, District 7)
Rep. Jeff Denham (Republican-CA, District 19)
Rep. Charles Dent (Republican-PA, District 15)
Rep. Bob Dold (Republican-IL, District 10)
Rep. Sean Duffy (Republican-WI, District 7)
Rep. Stephen Fincher (Republican-TN, District 8 )
Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick (Republican-PA, District 8 )
Rep. John Fleming (Republican-LA, District 4)
Rep. Bill Flores (Republican-TX, District 17)
Rep. Jeffrey Fortenberry (Republican-NE, District 1)
Rep. Trent Franks (Republican-AZ, District 2)
Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (Republican-NJ, District 11)
Rep. Elton Gallegly (Republican-CA, District 24)
Rep. Cory Gardner (Republican-CO, District 4)
Rep. Scott Garrett (Republican-NJ, District 5)
Rep. Jim Gerlach (Republican-PA, District 6)
Rep. Bob Gibbs (Republican-OH, District 18)
Rep. John Gingrey (Republican-GA, District 11)
Rep. Louis Gohmert (Republican-TX, District 1)
Rep. Paul Gosar (Republican-AZ, District 1)
Rep. Tom Graves (Republican-GA, District 9)
Rep. Tim Griffin (Republican-AR, District 2)
Rep. Morgan Griffith (Republican-VA, District 9)
Rep. Michael Grimm (Republican-NY, District 13)
Rep. Frank Guinta (Republican-NH, District 1)
Rep. Ralph Hall (Republican-TX, District 4)
Rep. Richard Hanna (Republican-NY, District 24)
Rep. Gregg Harper (Republican-MS, District 3)
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (Republican-MO, District 4)
Rep. Doc Hastings (Republican-WA, District 4)
Rep. Joe Heck (Republican-NV, District 3)
Rep. Walter Herger (Republican-CA, District 2)
Rep. Tim Huelskamp (Republican-KS, District 1)
Rep. Bill Huizenga (Republican-MI, District 2)
Rep. Duncan Hunter (Republican-CA, District 52)
Rep. Lynn Jenkins (Republican-KS, District 2)
Rep. Bill Johnson (Republican-OH, District 6)
Rep. Mike Kelly (Republican-PA, District 3)
Rep. Steve King (Republican-IA, District 5)
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Republican-IL, District 11)
Rep. John Kline (Republican-MN, District 2)
Rep. Raúl Labrador (Republican-ID, District 1)
Rep. Doug Lamborn (Republican-CO, District 5)
Rep. Leonard Lance (Republican-NJ, District 7)
Rep. James Lankford (Republican-OK, District 5)
Rep. Jerry Lewis (Republican-CA, District 41)
Rep. Frank LoBiondo (Republican-NJ, District 2)
Rep. Frank Lucas (Republican-OK, District 3)
Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (Republican-MO, District 9)
Rep. Daniel Lungren (Republican-CA, District 3)
Rep. Kenny Marchant (Republican-TX, District 24)
Rep. Thomas Marino (Republican-PA, District 10)
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (Republican-CA, District 22)
Rep. Tom McClintock (Republican-CA, District 4)
Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (Republican-MI, District 11)
Rep. Howard McKeon (Republican-CA, District 25)
Rep. David McKinley (Republican-WV, District 1)
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Republican-WA, District 5)
Rep. Patrick Meehan (Republican-PA, District 7)
Rep. Candice Miller (Republican-MI, District 10)
Rep. Gary Miller (Republican-CA, District 42)
Rep. Mick Mulvaney (Republican-SC, District 5)
Rep. Randy Neugebauer (Republican-TX, District 19)
Rep. Devin Nunes (Republican-CA, District 21)
Rep. Alan Nunnelee (Republican-MS, District 1)
Rep. Erik Paulsen (Republican-MN, District 3)
Rep. Stevan Pearce (Republican-NM, District 2)
Rep. Mike Pence (Republican-IN, District 6)
Rep. Ted Poe (Republican-TX, District 2)
Rep. Mike Pompeo (Republican-KS, District 4)
Rep. Tom Price (Republican-GA, District 6)
Rep. Ben Quayle (Republican-AZ, District 3)
Rep. Dennis Rehberg (Republican-MT, District 0)
Rep. Jim Renacci (Republican-OH, District 16)
Rep. Reid Ribble (Republican-WI, District 8 )
Rep. Martha Roby (Republican-AL, District 2)
Rep. Phil Roe (Republican-TN, District 1)
Rep. Michael Rogers (Republican-MI, District 8 )
Rep. Dennis Ross (Republican-FL, District 12)
Rep. Jon Runyan (Republican-NJ, District 3)
Rep. Steve Scalise (Republican-LA, District 1)
Rep. David Schweikert (Republican-AZ, District 5)
Rep. Tim Scott (Republican-SC, District 1)
Rep. Pete Sessions (Republican-TX, District 32)
Rep. Michael Simpson (Republican-ID, District 2)
Rep. Adrian Smith (Republican-NE, District 3)
Rep. Christopher Smith (Republican-NJ, District 4)
Rep. Lamar Smith (Republican-TX, District 21)
Rep. Clifford Stearns (Republican-FL, District 6)
Rep. Steve Stivers (Republican-OH, District 15)
Rep. John Sullivan (Republican-OK, District 1)
Rep. Lee Terry (Republican-NE, District 2)
Rep. Patrick Tiberi (Republican-OH, District 12)
Rep. Scott Tipton (Republican-CO, District 3)
Rep. Timothy Walberg (Republican-MI, District 7)
Rep. Allen West (Republican-FL, District 22)
Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (Republican-GA, District 3)
Rep. Joe Wilson (Republican-SC, District 2)
Rep. Kevin Yoder (Republican-KS, District 3)
Rep. Todd Young (Republican-IN, District 9)

Another case in which Tea Party action in Congress does not match the Tea Party promise.

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3 Responses to Spending Hawks? Tea Party Votes Against Military Budget Cuts to the V-22 Osprey Program

  1. Tom says:
    3/2/2011 at 5:48 am

    Yep – it’s all about that job connection, which in turn buys them votes.

    Reply
  2. Tom says:
    3/2/2011 at 6:52 am

    Here’s another big ticket item voted for by the corporate party (of course, this is apropos of nothing):

    http://climateprogress.org/2011/03/01/house-gop-big-oil-subsidies/

    Reply
  3. Chris says:
    4/12/2011 at 6:52 pm

    A grass-roots movement to cut defense spending could be much more effective than lobbying the elected representatives who stand by their vested interests. Waiting for elected representatives to do the right thing by cutting wasteful defense spending ahead of looking after people here in the US is fruitless. The Congress serves their selected interests and not those of the American people. Tea party members are no better than any other Republican or Democrat when it comes down to self-serving interests.

    Reply

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