Six months after that milestone election, activists across Virginia say they are watching to see whether those new lawmakers keep the promises they made to attack the federal budget deficit. That’s what the Franklin County Patriots said they wanted from their freshman representative, Robert Hurt (R).
“We’re going to hold his feet to the fire,” said Richard Walters, a minister and a leading member of the group. “He’s going to hear from us every day.”
Unlike most officials in Washington, tea party activists in Franklin and elsewhere said they don’t fear a government shutdown. Many said they saw that outcome as preferable to a deal that simply doesn’t cut enough spending.
“I know they all go up there and want to compromise,” said Phil Spence, vice chairman of the 2nd Tuesday Constitution Group in Roanoke. “I’m against compromise. Either we have principle, or we don’t have principle.”
The pressure from conservative activists could boil over this week.
House Republicans are deep in discussions with Senate Democrats and the White House over a new continuing resolution to keep the government funded through September. The version of the measure passed by the House in February cut spending by $61 billion, which some tea party groups considered insufficient. Whatever bipartisan deal is reached will be far less than that.
“Some [cutting] is better than nothing, but we see it as rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic,” said Chip Tarbutton, president of the Roanoke Tea Party.
He said he expected his congressman, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R), to vote against any such deal, “even if it means shutting down the government.”
‘Let’s cut the budget now’
The day-to-day details of Washington spending fights may escape most Americans, but Virginia tea party leaders made clear that they’ve been paying close attention to the voting records of Hurt and his fellow Republican freshmen, Reps. Scott Rigell and H. Morgan Griffith.
In mid-March, the House approved a continuing resolution, or CR, to keep the government running for three more weeks. The bill cut $6 billion in spending but did not include some policy provisions that were included in the February bill, which defunded Planned Parenthood and President Obama’s health-care bill.
Fifty-four Republicans voted against that, including Rigell; Hurt and Griffith voted for it. Tea party groups took note.
“I would say that we’ve been very pleased with Mr. Rigell thus far,” said David Donis, chairman of the Hampton Roads Tea Party. “He has set the tone that we would like the rest of the Virginia delegation to follow, which is no more continuing resolutions. Let’s cut the budget now rather than later.”
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