DeGette: Congress Must Restore Common Sense to Budget

DeGette: Congress Must Restore Common Sense to Budget

WASHINGTON, DC - Chief Deputy Whip Diana DeGette (D-CO) fought to restore financial responsibility to the nation's budget today by supporting the Democratic budget - and voting against the Republican's budget proposal - in the House of Representatives. The Republican budget passed, however, 218-214.

"Our budget follows the same reasonable principles used by most American families: only spend the money you have. We do so by restoring the common sense rule that we must pay for any new spending or tax cuts with spending reductions elsewhere. This rule was critical to balancing the budget in the 1990s and can return financial sanity today," said Rep. DeGette. "Otherwise, our nation risks facing the same bad economic future as any family that borrows year after year so they can live a lifestyle far beyond their means."

The GOP's 2004 budget created a record $412 billion deficit. This year, the Republicans again failed to offer a plan to balance the budget. This leaves a $427 billion deficit for 2005 and fails to balance the budget for any of the five years of their proposal. Much of the deficit is created by the continuation of huge tax cuts for the wealthy, which are only partially paid for by reductions in veterans' health care, education funding and other important services.

"In four years under Republican leadership, our nation has gone from having a projected $5.6 trillion budget surplus to a $4 trillion deficit. The current policy of financing huge tax giveaways to the wealthy by cutting critical public services and taking on mounting deficits is a clear example of robbing Peter to pay Paul," said Rep. DeGette. "This is not sustainable. Like any American family facing a mountain of debt, it's time for us to start taking responsibility for our budget."

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/co01_degette/050317.html