From Human Events:
Paul Ryan: Obama’s Budget Is ‘Debt on Arrival’
by Emily Miller
02/14/2011
Congressional Republicans are outraged that President Obama sent a $3.7 trillion budget on Monday that continues the tax-and-spend policies that cost Democrats the midterm elections.
“Many people thought—ourselves included—that the President would moderate after this past election. This is not a moderating budget. This is not a triangulation budget. This is a budget that went to the left,” said Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).
“It would be better doing nothing than if we were to actually pass this budget—for the sake of our economy, for the sake of our future, and for the sake of jobs,” said a clearly fired-up Ryan.
Obama’s budget would increase spending by $8.7 trillion and add $13 trillion to the debt over 10 years, according to Republican analysis. The budget, which would go into effect in Fiscal Year 2012, would only reduce the deficit by $1.1 trillion over 10 years, a third of which would come from $1.6 trillion in tax increases.
“This is not an I-got-the-message budget. It’s unserious, and it’s irresponsible. We need to look for ways to preserve what’s good that does not put us on a path to bankruptcy. That was the challenge of this budget. The administration failed the test,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R.-Ky.) on Monday.
The current U.S. debt, which is the cumulative debts of years of deficit spending, will soon hit the statutory debt ceiling of $14.3 trillion. Republicans say that Obama’s budget would add another $13 trillion to the debt over the next 10 years.
The White House also claims that the proposed budget freezes discretionary spending (at the current high Democrat levels) for the next five years. Ryan, however, disagrees with this assertion.
Ryan, using a chart at a press conference on Monday, showed that the President’s budget includes $8.7 trillion of new spending and $13 trillion in new borrowing over the next decade. The budget also sets discretionary spending at $353 billion above the recommendations of his own debt commission.
“We must begin to do the difficult but necessary work of reining in a government that has grown beyond our ability to pay for it. We must acknowledge the mistakes of the past two years and work to correct them,” said McConnell. “The stimulus failed. This budget says `Do it again.’ ”
Obama’s budget also includes a $1.6 trillion tax hike on families and small businesses, just two months after agreeing to keep taxes at current levels. The President would increase income taxes by $919 billion, hike the death tax by $118 billion, and raise the transportation tax by $435 billion.
“When you pull aside the curtain and look at all the smoke and the mirrors, it looks to me like this thing has $8 dollars of tax increases for $1 of spending cuts,” said Ryan. “You cannot borrow and spend and tax your way to prosperity, but unfortunately, that is exactly what this budget does.”
This year’s budget deficit—the amount the U.S. government is spending more than it takes in from taxes—is projected to be at least $1.5 trillion by the end of the fiscal year on September 30.
The House Republicans are voting this week on a Continuing Resolution (CR) to cut spending by $59 billion over the next seven months, but that is only 3% of the total deficit. Obama has not said whether he would sign the CR if it included the House GOP’s huge cuts in discretionary spending.
The Republicans were particularly galled that the President did not include the recommendations from his own debt commission. Obama’s budget does not mention the major areas needed to cut the debt—entitlement reform and tax reform.
“The fiscal commission gave us hope that we were going to finally have that adult conversation in Washington about how we preempt our debt and deficit crisis. Unfortunately, this budget does none of it. This budget ignores the problems.
“The budget does more taxing, more borrowing. And, at the end of the day, if we don't turn this around, that's going to cost us jobs, that's going to cost us prosperity, it’s going to cost our country its credibility,” said Ryan.
I asked Budget Chairman Ryan if President Obama’s budget was DOA—Dead on Arrival—in the House.
“Debt on Arrival. D-E-B-T on Arrival,” he answered.
Paul Ryan: Obama’s Budget Is ‘Debt on Arrival’
by Emily Miller
02/14/2011
Congressional Republicans are outraged that President Obama sent a $3.7 trillion budget on Monday that continues the tax-and-spend policies that cost Democrats the midterm elections.“Many people thought—ourselves included—that the President would moderate after this past election. This is not a moderating budget. This is not a triangulation budget. This is a budget that went to the left,” said Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).
“It would be better doing nothing than if we were to actually pass this budget—for the sake of our economy, for the sake of our future, and for the sake of jobs,” said a clearly fired-up Ryan.
Obama’s budget would increase spending by $8.7 trillion and add $13 trillion to the debt over 10 years, according to Republican analysis. The budget, which would go into effect in Fiscal Year 2012, would only reduce the deficit by $1.1 trillion over 10 years, a third of which would come from $1.6 trillion in tax increases.
“This is not an I-got-the-message budget. It’s unserious, and it’s irresponsible. We need to look for ways to preserve what’s good that does not put us on a path to bankruptcy. That was the challenge of this budget. The administration failed the test,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R.-Ky.) on Monday.
The current U.S. debt, which is the cumulative debts of years of deficit spending, will soon hit the statutory debt ceiling of $14.3 trillion. Republicans say that Obama’s budget would add another $13 trillion to the debt over the next 10 years.
The White House also claims that the proposed budget freezes discretionary spending (at the current high Democrat levels) for the next five years. Ryan, however, disagrees with this assertion.
Ryan, using a chart at a press conference on Monday, showed that the President’s budget includes $8.7 trillion of new spending and $13 trillion in new borrowing over the next decade. The budget also sets discretionary spending at $353 billion above the recommendations of his own debt commission.
“We must begin to do the difficult but necessary work of reining in a government that has grown beyond our ability to pay for it. We must acknowledge the mistakes of the past two years and work to correct them,” said McConnell. “The stimulus failed. This budget says `Do it again.’ ”
Obama’s budget also includes a $1.6 trillion tax hike on families and small businesses, just two months after agreeing to keep taxes at current levels. The President would increase income taxes by $919 billion, hike the death tax by $118 billion, and raise the transportation tax by $435 billion.
“When you pull aside the curtain and look at all the smoke and the mirrors, it looks to me like this thing has $8 dollars of tax increases for $1 of spending cuts,” said Ryan. “You cannot borrow and spend and tax your way to prosperity, but unfortunately, that is exactly what this budget does.”
This year’s budget deficit—the amount the U.S. government is spending more than it takes in from taxes—is projected to be at least $1.5 trillion by the end of the fiscal year on September 30.
The House Republicans are voting this week on a Continuing Resolution (CR) to cut spending by $59 billion over the next seven months, but that is only 3% of the total deficit. Obama has not said whether he would sign the CR if it included the House GOP’s huge cuts in discretionary spending.
The Republicans were particularly galled that the President did not include the recommendations from his own debt commission. Obama’s budget does not mention the major areas needed to cut the debt—entitlement reform and tax reform.
“The fiscal commission gave us hope that we were going to finally have that adult conversation in Washington about how we preempt our debt and deficit crisis. Unfortunately, this budget does none of it. This budget ignores the problems.
“The budget does more taxing, more borrowing. And, at the end of the day, if we don't turn this around, that's going to cost us jobs, that's going to cost us prosperity, it’s going to cost our country its credibility,” said Ryan.
I asked Budget Chairman Ryan if President Obama’s budget was DOA—Dead on Arrival—in the House.
“Debt on Arrival. D-E-B-T on Arrival,” he answered.
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