GOP to use State of the Union to press Obama on cuts

[Geee]

Washington Examiner:

The face-off between Republicans and Democrats over federal spending officially kicks off Tuesday when the House votes on a measure to slash the budget to 2008 levels just hours before President Obama delivers his State of the Union address.

The resolution, to reduce spending for the remainder of the fiscal year, would likely result in at least a 20 percent cut in the federal government’s non-defense spending and would put the House on a collision course with the president and the Senate, which is under the control of Democratic lawmakers who will resist reductions they believe jeopardize critical programs or result in layoffs of essential government employees, like FBI agents and corrections officers.

Republicans plan to underscore their budget-cutting agenda after the president’s speech as well. The GOP tapped House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., a fiscal conservative, to deliver the response to the State of the Union address. Ryan wrote a budget blueprint last year calling for drastic budget cuts and the partial privatization of Social Security and is expected to lead the latest Republican effort to slash spending.

Republican strategist David Marin said the GOP moves to vote on the spending cuts and assign Ryan to respond to Obama’s speech were both deliberate and savvy.