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 112th 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 18th 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 112th 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.