Congressman calls $39 billion cut 'small ball'

Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who is running for Senate in 2012, said he was "disappointed" with the spending deal announced late Friday night.

The White House reached a deal with congressional Republicans and Democrats to cut $39 billion from current spending levels. Leaders plan to pass a short-term funding resolution to give them time to convert the agreement into legislative language, but the main outlines of the compromise have been set.  

"A lot of us are quite disappointed with the level" of spending cuts, Flake said. "It's not very big."

He called Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) 2012 budget resolution, which would cut $5.8 trillion over 10 years and curtail entitlement spending, the "big leagues."

"This is small ball," he said. "But you've got to take some cuts where you can get them. These discretionary cuts are important because it takes from the baseline and it compounds year to year."

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