$1 Billion Spending Cut

November 01, 2011

The vote was on whether to reduce spending for the Rural Development Agency (RDA) by $1 billion. The conservative vote was "Aye".

A 2007 Washington Post investigation of the agency stated, "More than three decades after the program was created, USDA officials still don't know whether it works." The Congressional Research Service has found there are "more than 88 programs administered by 16 different federal agencies to target rural economic development." In recent years the RDA has used taxpayer money to make profligate loans to casinos, beach resorts, and water parks. Still, 85 Senators, consisting of every Democrat and many Republicans, opposed the cut to this wasteful spending. Only 13 senators, all Republicans, supported Coburn's amendment.