Walz Casts Vote to Return to Common Sense of Pay-As-You-Go Budgetting Rules

WALZ CASTS VOTE TO RETURN TO COMMON SENSE OF PAY-AS-YOU-GO BUDGETTING RULES

Today, freshman Representative Tim Walz cast a common-sense vote to return to the pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) budget rules of the 1990's. The House restored the lapsed measure in a 280-152 vote, in which 48 Republicans crossed party lines to vote with Democrats. The PAYGO budget process prohibits any new deficit spending and requires appropriations bills to show offsets for the spending they include.

"As I traveled the campaign trail over the last year, I made the same commitment that Congressman Tim Penny made to the First District two decades ago, to return this nation to the fiscal responsibility that future generations of Minnesotans deserve," Walz said. "I am proud to cast my vote in favor of this common sense measure and repeat the same monumental step taken by Congressman Penny years ago," he added.

"My only regret," Walz continued, "is that years of Republican control erased the successes of the Pay-As-You-Go rules and exploded the deficit that we will pass on to our children. This unprecedented budget crisis will take years of discipline to repair."

The first President Bush signed a deficit reduction bill imposing PAYGO discipline in 1990. Congress extended the measure twice but allowed it to lapse in 2002, just months before the invasion of Iraq. Since the legislation expired, America's debt has increased drastically, to more than $28,000 per person.

http://walz.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=55789