Members of Congress are coming up with all sorts of ideas to cut the budget — some of them which would have an actual impact on cutting spending. And then there are others that seem more about grabbing headlines. Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR) — who proposed an amendment to eliminate funding for President Barack Obama’s teleprompter — falls into the latter category.
In the course of the debate over how to reducing spending by $100 billion over the rest of the 2011 budget year, members of Congress have offered their ideas in the form of more than 400 amendments. Womack’s was one of them — but he pulled it because he couldn’t get an estimate on how much it would save, he told Fox News.
“I think we made our point,” Womack said. “We’re asking people to do more with less. And I think the president ought to lead by example. He is already a very gifted speaker. And I think that’s one platform he could do without.”
Obama’s teleprompter has been the butt of late-night jokes, satirical articles in The Onion and even (for a time) a blog.
A spokesman for Womack did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
