Who is the biggest spender in Congress? The biggest penny pincher?

 

Who is the biggest spender in the Michigan congressional delegation? You might as well ask, who is the biggest spender in the entire Congress, in the House or Senate?

The answer to both questions is Democratic Rep. John Conyers of Detroit. According to the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, if all of the legislation that Conyers either sponsored or co-sponsored during the 112^th Congress, in 2011-12, were passed into law, spending would have increased by nearly $1.8 trillion – the most new spending supported by anyone on Capitol Hill.

Michigan is also home to the biggest penny pincher, Republican Rep. Justin Amash of Cascade Township (located near Grand Rapids). Among all House members, Representative Amash’s agenda included the fewest amount of spending increases ($38 million), more than offset by nearly $200 million in cuts, the NTFU reported.

Among the states and territories, Michigan’s House delegation had the 18^th largest average net spending agenda: $145 billion. Two members, Conyers and Democrat Hansen Clarke of Detroit (who was defeated in the 2012 elections), were sponsors of big-ticket legislation that would have enacted a single-payer, universal health system exclusively administered by the federal government.

One big surprise: Sen. Carl Levin, long considered a liberal Democrat, had a negative spending agenda, meaning the bills he sponsored would have resulted in more cuts than additions to the federal budget.

The NTFU’s latest BillTally study tracks all significant fiscal legislation in Congress. The report on the completed 112^th Congress reveals that despite a surge in legislators who wanted to cut spending, Congress’ total agenda would have added $1.2 trillion to the federal debt.

NTUF Director of Research Demian Brady offers these Michigan highlights:

*     Each Democratic House member from Michigan backed legislation that, overall, would lead to net spending increases.

*      Each of the Michigan Republicans were “net cutters”: if the legislation they each had sponsored were enacted into law, spending would decrease. Their net budget cutting agendas ranged from $40 billion to over $250 billion (Rep. Bill Huizenga).

*       In the upper chamber, Levin-backed bills would, on net, cut spending by nearly $13 billion. Sen. Debbie Stabenow supported 64 pieces of legislation that would increase spending and 12 proposals to cut spending, for a net agenda of $27.5 billion. 

The report provides a comprehensive overview of the net cost of all of the spending and savings bills sponsored or cosponsored by each member of Congress. The foundation cross-indexes its database of cost estimates with each bill supported by each member to calculate their net spending agenda (excluding overlapping/duplicate measures).

Here’s the Michigan rundown:

Name	Party	Increases	Decreases	Net Spending Agenda	# of Increases	# of Decreases
Levin, Carl	D	$31,271	($43,897)	($12,626)	28	5
Stabenow, Debbie Ann	D	$45,358	($17,819)	$27,539	64	12
Amash, Justin	R	$38	($199,954)	($199,916)	3	11
Benishek, Dan	R	$5,909	($178,651)	($172,742)	26	16
Camp, David	R	$14,047	($182,316)	($168,269)	9	15
Clarke, Hansen	D	$1,324,189	($15,020)	$1,309,169	73	5
Conyers, John	D	$1,825,016	($51,219)	$1,773,797	170	12
Dingell, John	D	$77,810	($13,731)	$64,079	40	4
Huizenga, Bill	R	$323	($251,012)	($250,689)	17	23
Kildee, Dale	D	$187,122	($5,047)	$182,075	84	4
Levin, Sander	D	$55,271	($12,056)	$43,215	46	3
Miller, Candice	R	$1,879	($175,537)	($173,658)	33	14
Peters, Gary	D	$85,938	($7,093)	$78,845	57	9
Rogers, Michael J.	R	$3,871	($44,021)	($40,150)	19	13
Upton, Frederick	R	$12,649	($180,780)	($168,131)	15	16
Walberg, Timothy	R	$15,767	($262,701)	($246,934)	22	36
Notes: The links in the names will open a detailed report of that member’s sponsored bills that had cost estimates. Dollar figures are in millions.