Van Hollen Statement on W&M Markup of New Unpaid-For Tax Cuts

Statement

Today Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen, Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee, issued the following statement following the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee marking up legislation for more unpaid-for tax cuts:

"Today, House Republicans are raising the bar for fiscal irresponsibility -- one trillion dollars in unpaid-for tax cuts without closing a single special-interest loophole to reduce the deficit. House Republicans have already passed over $600 billion in unpaid for tax cuts this Congress, including a $270 billion repeal of the estate tax on estates worth over $10 million, a giveaway to only 5,500 of the wealthiest families each year. Today, the Ways and Means Republicans are pushing another $400 billion in tax cuts in a Committee markup, without a single offset to help pay for them. Together, these bills would grow the debt by more than a trillion dollars over ten years, and create an additional $200 billion in interest payments on top of that. None of the one trillion dollars in unpaid-for tax cuts were accounted for in the Republican budget -- just one more example of how the Republican budget is built on Enron-like accounting gimmicks.

"But while Republicans are busy trying to grow the debt by over a trillion dollars, we have had radio silence from Speaker Boehner on how we are going to avoid a government shutdown. Two years ago, Senator Cruz and others said they were going to shut down the government in order to defund Obamacare. This led to a shameful 16-day government shutdown that Standard & Poor's estimated cost the U.S. economy $24 billion. Now, these same folks are threatening to shut down the government in order to defund women's health programs and Planned Parenthood. If Republicans won't come to the negotiating table to keep the government running, it will be another self-inflicted wound to our economy.

"Americans expect Congress to govern responsibly. Instead of spending their time on passing a trillion dollars in unpaid-for tax cuts and reckless posturing that threatens our economy, Republicans need to put partisanship aside and focus on the real concerns of our nation."

Source