Blum calls $1.1 trillion spending plan ‘crummy government’

HIAWATHA - Congress' slow-motion passage of a spending bill was 'crummy government,” according to congressman-elect Rod Blum.

'I probably would have voted ‘no,'” the Dubuque Republican said. 'To be handed a 1,700-page bill and have less than the 72 hours that Speaker Boehner promised, that's not the way to do it.”

Blum, 59, who will take his oath of office Jan. 6, was elected Nov. 4 to succeed Rep. Bruce Braley, a Waterloo Democrat who represented the 20-county district for eight years. Braley unsuccessfully ran for a U.S. Senate seat.

He'll be a member of the 39-member House Budget Committee. While he understands the committee and Congress won't immediately change some of the bad habits they've gotten into, Blum would like to see an end to serial continuing resolutions and government shutdown threats.

'The ‘CRomnibus,' that's not the right way to go about things,” Blum said while in Hiawatha for a meeting with a citizen advisory panel Tuesday. 'CRomnibus' is the label given the $1.1 trillion spending bill Congress approved. It was a mash-up of an omnibus bill, which is the way Congress typically funds the government, and a continuing resolution, which is what Congress approves to keep government running when it can't reach a deal.

'It's brinkmanship,” Blum said. 'Maybe it makes good theater and good television, but it's not the way to run the country.”

He hopes Boehner follows incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's plan to return to regular order where the majority rules, but the minority party is allowed to offer and debate amendments.

Blum also favors dynamic scoring so budget reflect the impact of both tax cuts and spending, and an end to baseline budgeting, 'which puts spending on autopilot.”

'We can't get to where I'd like to be overnight,” Blum said. 'It's a very big organization. It's a huge battleship and turning around a battleship is not easy. It will take time and everyone - including myself - has to have patience.”

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