From Senator Phil Roe, TN Budget Proposal Pushes Tax, Borrow and Spend Last Tuesday morning the president released his budget proposal for fiscal year 2015. I believe the $3.9 trillion spending blueprint, unfortunately, includes the same tax-borrow-and-spend policies the president has been pushing since he took office. The proposal would increase spending by $791 billion over the 10-year budget window and by $56 billion in 2015 above the Murray-Ryan spending compromise he signed into law just two months ago. This proposal would shrink our military and increase funding to support the administration’s climate change plan, a huge part of which is a war on coal. Worse, this budget blueprint does nothing to eliminate wasteful spending and balance our budget, adding $8.3 trillion to the debt over ten years. Out-of-control spending is one of the most significant threats to American prosperity. For too long, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have been irresponsible with your tax dollars, amassing a national debt of more than $17 trillion. Despite warnings from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that our large budget deficits and growing debt will lead to higher interest rates, more borrowing from abroad and less domestic investment, and I believe the administration continues to push failed economic policies. We must act now to ensure that our children and grandchildren do not inherit a mountain of debt that erodes opportunity. I strongly believe we must make the hard decisions now, and balance our budget. I am a proud original cosponsor of H.J.Res. 2, a Balanced Budget Amendment to our Constitution that would prohibit spending from exceeding revenues unless three-fifths of both the House and Senate vote otherwise. In the last Congress, I voted for a similar constitutional amendment, but unfortunately, the measure did not receive the necessary two-thirds vote to pass the House. Forty-eight states, including Tennessee, require a balanced budget. It’s time for Washington to step up and show the restraint so many states have already shown, but the president doesn’t agree. His budget would never balance—ever. If you aren’t convinced the president’s budget is bad for the country, just take a hard look at some of his spending priorities. President Obama wants more than $12 billion to go to the Internal Revenue Service while congressional leaders are still investigating IRS targeting of conservative groups. Further, the White House wants a portion of those increased funds to help implement and administer Obamacare. The president has already increased taxes by $1.7 trillion. Now, he wants to raise taxes another $1.8 trillion. To make matters worse, roughly half of the proposed tax increases would go toward new spending, not deficit reduction. Simply put, this is unacceptable and embarrassing. I had hoped the bipartisan budget negotiations would lead to more working across the aisle to lower our deficits, but the president has moved back to promoting his old mantra of tax, borrow, and spend. Since winning the majority in 2010, House Republicans have fought tirelessly to rein in wasteful spending, and we’ve made real progress. For the first time since the Korean War, federal discretionary spending has been cut four consecutive years. But that’s not enough. Many Democrats claim that raising taxes is the best way to deal with our crippling national debt. Numbers released by CBO, however, make it painfully clear that Washington does not have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem. In 2013, the government took in more revenue than at any point in our nation’s history. I believe that Americans are already taxed too much and that it’s time to work on proposals that will allow families to keep more of their own money. Please rest assured I will continue to oppose reckless spending sprees like the one in President Obama’s FY2015 budget and fight to get our country’s fiscal house back in order. Feel free to contact my office if we can be of assistance to you or your family. Our contact information can be found on our website, roe.house.gov. CONNECT WITH US E-News Sign-up Forward to a Friend Contact Phil Facebook
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 14:39:58 +0000
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