The debate in Congress over fiscal priorities has taken a turn toward radical conservatism this week, as the right-wing members of the House Republican Study Committee (RSC) have gained the upper hand in their push for increased cuts in the budget resolution. As Congress returns from its October recess this week, House GOP leaders are planning to amend the budget resolution to include more drastic cuts to mandatory and discretionary spending, ostensibly to pay for rebuilding in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Two planned reconciliation bills--one for additional tax cuts, primarily to the wealthy, and one for $35 billion over five years in cuts to entitlement programs such as Medicaid--were already scheduled to occur. Reconciliation bills have parliamentary protections so that only 50 votes in the Senate are needed and the bill cannot be filibustered or amended on the floor. In light of Katrina, some had questioned whether these reconciliation bills should continue to move forward. Yet in a major turn of events, conservatives have shifted the debate from whether these bills should be considered at all to how to make even larger cuts. There is little agreement between the House and Senate GOP leadership over using the reconciliation bills to make the cuts, but it appears there is agreement that further cuts should occur. GOP leadership in the House now supports using the reconciliation bill as a vehicle for additional cuts. The proposed House amendment would increase mandatory cuts in the reconciliation bills this fall by 43 percent (to $50 billion) and institute an immediate 2 percent cut to all discretionary government spending. The budget reconciliation bill was originally designated to cut at least $34.7 billion from mandatory spending, particularly funding for health care, food stamps, student loans and farm supports over five years. Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle (R-IA) has announced the House will need another week, and possibly more, for authorizing committees to figure out how they will raise their net savings to reach the new target of $50 billion. The House leaders currently hope to finish assembling the reconciliation spending bill during the week of Oct. 31 and to move the bill to the floor as early as the following week. The Senate has rejected the option of amending the budget resolution and is continuing with the original plan to cut $34.7 billion in entitlement spending in its reconciliation bill, with authorizing committees marking up bills beginning this Wednesday. At the same time, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) is meeting with a small working group of Senators, including Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg (R-NH), in order to build consensus for making additional cuts above the $34.7 billion level. Such consensus will likely be difficult to achieve, as many moderate Republicans were already uneasy about the level of cuts to Medicaid and other low-income support programs in the original budget resolution - and those concerns have only grown since Hurricane Katrina. The budget reconciliation amendment in the House is being spurred by House conservatives' dubious concern over budget deficits and fiscal responsibility in light of increased emergency spending to reconstruct the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina. While GOP leaders were originally hostile to the set of cuts outlined by the Republican Study Committee (RSC) called "Operation Offset," they have begun to embrace the ideology, if not the substance, of the RSC call for extensive budget cuts. This change of heart among the leadership may be partly due to turmoil within the party caused by Majority Leader Tom Delay's (R-TX) indictment. The House leadership has been forced to adopt a more hard-line approach to spending cuts because, according to lawmakers and leadership aides, they "had no choice but to firm up support with their conservative base." Moreover, it is rumored that the RSC members threatened to vote for new House leaders in January if the current leadership does not embrace more spending cuts. So far, House leaders appear to be capitulating. Now that infighting in the House is over, Republicans in the House appear all on message and talking about fiscal discipline and deficits. Yet their newfound interest in fiscal responsibility and reducing deficits, much like that of many of their Republican counterparts in the Senate, seems half-hearted at best and outright manipulative at worst. At the same time they are supporting drastic cuts to reduce federal spending, they are insisting on a new round of tax cuts in reconciliation - a total of $70 billion in un-offset federal spending. In fact, they support the full extension of all of Bush's 2001 and 2003 tax cut provisions, which would cost over $1 trillion in lost revenue over ten years. The reconciliation bills, if passed as originally planned, would actually increase the deficit by $35 billion,leaving many to wonder how fiscal discipline plays into them at all. The cost of reconstruction and renewal after Hurricane Katrina--a one-time expenditure that will not add to the deficit over the long-term--is simply an excuse to gain traction for the underlying conservative goal of significantly shrinking government by de-funding public investments. The latest is a cold-hearted push for disinvestment in our country during a time when so many people--both Katrina victims and others--are in need. Far from responsible, GOP proposals jeopardize the well-being of citizens by taking away supports so many rely on, while ignoring the cost of massive tax cuts and effectively doing nothing to pare down future deficits. You can make your voice heard by sending a note to Congress and telling your representatives that these are not your priorities and that you disagree with giving additional tax cuts to the wealthy, while cutting programs serving Americans in need. Recent polls shows strong public support for rolling back tax cuts for the wealthy to pay for rebuilding the Gulf Coast and to put us on a better economic path. Let's make sure Congress reflects the public will.