Issue Position: Deficits and Debt

Issue Position

I am working to implement a forward thinking plan that invests in our economic growth to create jobs. The path to real deficit reduction and a balanced budget requires sacrifices from all Americans. From reducing spending, like cutting agriculture subsidies and accelerating the drawdown in Afghanistan, to increasing revenue by closing tax loopholes for massively profitable companies and restoring tax rates on the highest earners, we can achieve our aims through shared sacrifice and bipartisan compromise.

I believe we can cut the deficit while preserving our social safety net by finally asking a little bit more from the wealthiest Americans. We shouldn't balance the budget on the backs of the middle class. This is not class warfare, and this is not about punishing millionaires who have done well. It is about asking them to do their fair share. Even though the wealthiest Americans face nearly the lowest marginal tax rates in modern American history, so many take advantage of loopholes and shelters that a quarter of millionaires pay a lower tax rate than those in the middle-class.

Congress must still act to address the deficit. The Budget Control Act approved in August 2011 requires major automatic cuts to both defense and domestic spending at the end of this year if an alternate agreement is not reached. Both sides need to come together and agree to pursue a balanced and structured agreement. That will include a mix of spending cuts in defense and domestic spending as well as increasing revenue through fairer tax rates for the highest earners and elimination of tax subsidies to oil and gas companies and big agribusiness.

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