President Barack Obama isn’t truly committed to the spending cuts he signed in the Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011, says Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee.
The proof is Obama’s support of the Sportsmen's Act, which entails $14 million in new federal spending, violating the BCA, Sessions says, according to
The Hill.
The Sportsmen's Act combines more than a dozen bipartisan bills to increase the access of hunters and fishermen to federal land. Sessions backs most of the proposal, but opposes Democratic language that allocates new money.
Earlier this month, the White House voiced support for the bill. But it said nothing of spending increases.
"Shouldn't he [Obama] make it clear that he would veto any bill that violates the statutory limits we agreed to?” Sessions says. “But of course, he's not done so on this bill or any of the other four previous bills that would have violated those spending limits.”
So why does Obama support the extra spending? "The words in the Budget Control Act appear in his mind to be words he never agreed to in his heart," Sessions said. "Maybe he agreed to them on paper, but in his heart, he never wanted to sign that agreement. He's post-modern, as you know. Words are just a momentary thing.”
On the broader issue of fiscal cliff negotiations, Obama faces a new potential snag. Democrats in Congress, emboldened by their election gains, may be reluctant to back the president on any cutbacks in entitlements that he negotiates with Republicans.