Rep. Bill Flores (R., Texas), a freshman member of the House Budget Committee, tells National Review Online that support for House Speaker John Boehner’s (R., Ohio) deficit plan is “really growing.”
“It’s not a perfect plan, but it is the best plan that we have available,” he says on his way out of a weekly meeting between GOP leaders and freshman members. “Those of us that are very concerned about the future of our country and for our kids and grand-kids think that it’s the right thing to do to pass this bill.”
Flores was one of 39 House Republicans to a sign a pledge promising not to vote to raise the debt ceiling unless “Cut, Cap, and Balance” legislation was enacted. He has since, along with several others, including Rep. Allen West (R., Fla.), backed off the pledge, arguing that Boehner’s plan “reflects the principles” of “Cut, Cap, and Balance.”
Flores says he hasn’t see the new numbers (these, perhaps?) in the plan, which were updated to reflect the Congressional Budget Office’s most recent baseline, but sounded confident that they would be acceptable. “If the new numbers are where I think they’ll be, if the speaker’s approach is what I think it’ll be, I’ll be inclined to vote for it,” he said.