U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan led the charge for the balanced-budget proposal that passed by a partisan vote of the House Tuesday night.

As chairman of the Republican Study Committee, Mr. Jordan put together the so-called Cut, Cap, and Balance Act that would set in motion a balanced-budget amendment and allow an increase in the debt ceiling.

Opponents said the bill was an empty exercise in allowing zealous Tea Party Republicans to have their say in the debate over how to raise the government's debt limit.

Supporters said the successful vote will encourage supporters in the Senate and in the general public to back difficult spending cuts.

Mr. Jordan, of Urbana in Champaign County, in the central part of the state, was the lead signatory of 103 Republican House members who signed the proposal that emerged in June, and he managed much of the debate on the House floor Tuesday night.

Mr. Jordan's 4th Congressional District includes Findlay and Lima. The former high school and college wrestling champion and former state representative and state senator was elected to the House to succeed Mike Oxley in 2006 and was re-elected in 2008 and 2010.

This year, Mr. Jordan declined requests from some Republicans to run for the Senate against incumbent Democrat. Sherrod Brown, preferring to seek the chairmanship of the 177-member Republican Study Committee, a think tank for conservative Republicans in the House.

Under the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act, the federal government would cut spending $111 billion in 2012 and $5.8 trillion over 10 years.

It would impose spending caps to force the size of government back down to under 20 percent of gross domestic product over the next three decades, from over 24 percent now.

And it would raise the debt limit -- something President Obama says must be done by Aug. 2 to prevent national default -- by $2.4 trillion, up from the current level of $14.3 trillion. However, it would raise the debt limit only after Congress passes a balanced-budget amendment and sends it to the states for ratification.

No one expects the bill to pass the Democrat-controlled Senate, where it now heads. And President Obama said if it comes to him, he'll veto it.

Mr. Obama said the bill sets unrealistic spending caps and would imperil Medicare and Social Security. He labeled the bill "an empty political statement."

Eddie Vale, communications director for the liberal group Protect Your Benefits, said of the bill, "It's not really going anywhere." He said the vote is the Republican House leadership's way of letting the Tea Party members "blow some steam off" with the hope of bringing some of them to support a compromise.

Mr. Vale nicknamed the bill "Duck, Dodge, and Dismantle" for its effects on Medicare benefits, Medicaid, Social Security, and veterans benefits while protecting tax breaks for wealthy people.

But Speaker of the House John Boehner, whose district is adjacent to Mr. Jordan's, endorsed Cut, Cap, and Balance as "the most responsible thing that we can do to address our problems today, and to address our problems long term."

Also endorsing it was U.S. Rep. Bob Latta (R., Bowling Green), who is a member of the Republican Study Committee.

"I think Jim's been out there. He's been at the forefront of making sure the message of the Republican Study Committee is heard," Mr. Latta said.

"One thing it'll show is how many people support [a balanced budget amendment]. I think it's an important piece of legislation. What it's saying is this federal government has lived well beyond its means. The one thing we don't have anymore is time," Mr. Latta said.

U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) said the bill is unrealistic and excludes the wealthiest citizens and companies and Wall Street from contributing to balancing the budget while cutting programs that help people during the recovery, such as school lunches, student loans, and unemployment insurance.

"It provides an opportunity for an exchange on his views and the views of those who are more extreme in their budget proposals," Miss Kaptur said.

"I think calmer heads will prevail because we don't want to do anything to damage the recovery and this certainly would."

Contract Tom Troy at: tomtroy@theblade.com or 419-724-6058.

First Published July 20, 2011, 5:42 a.m.