Blog: The Fiscal Year 2015 Republican Budget

Statement

Democrats are focused on finding ways to encourage growth and expand opportunity for workers and families. The House Republican Budget for fiscal year 2015 would take a very different approach. Instead of working with Democrats to build on the bipartisan foundation set in the two-year budget agreement, the House Republican Budget would:

* Take away the Medicare guarantee and shift the cost of health care onto seniors;

* Make drastic cuts to investments in education, medical research, and transportation that create middle class jobs and long-term, broad-based growth;

* And once again protect the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations from paying a penny more toward their fair share.

This House Republican Budget again aims to eliminate deficits by 2024 through drastic spending cuts, and would overhaul programs including Medicare and Medicaid with serious consequences for beneficiaries, states, and providers. As in past years, the House Republican Budget includes no new revenue for deficit reduction, and proposes a 25 percent top tax rate for the wealthiest individuals. Independent studies have repeatedly shown that the tax plan proposed by the House Budget would require tax increases for households in the middle of the income spectrum.¹

This cuts-only approach runs counter to the recommendations of every bipartisan group that has proposed solutions to the nation's long-term fiscal challenges, including the President's Fiscal Commission ("Simpson-Bowles"), Domenici- Rivlin, and the Senate Gang of Six. Each of these groups proposed a roughly balanced mix of spending cuts and new revenue to tackle our budget challenges.

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