Pelosi: ‘Instead of a Statement of Our Values, Republican Budget an Assault on Our Values'

Pelosi: ‘Instead of a Statement of Our Values, Republican Budget an Assault on Our Values'

Washington, D.C. - House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi spoke on the House floor tonight in strong opposition to the final Republican budget resolution, which raids the Social Security trust fund, cuts billions in Medicaid, and adds trillions to the deficit. No House Democrats voted for the budget conference report, which passed by a vote of 214 to 211. Below are Pelosi's remarks:

"Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this misguided budget resolution because it is a missed opportunity. Instead of strengthening Social Security, this budget spends 100 percent of the Social Security surplus -- $160 billion for this year alone -- on tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.

"Instead of being an engine of growth, this budget and its deficits will put the brakes on job creation. Don't take it from me, Federal Reserve Chairman Greenspan said just recently, and I quote: ‘The federal budget deficit is on an unsustainable path, in which large deficits result in rising interest rates and ever-growing interest payments that augment deficits in future years…Unless this trend is reversed, at some point these deficits would cause the economy to stagnate or worse.'

"This budget is a missed opportunity, because instead of being a blueprint of positive initiatives for the future, this budget is an assault on our values. The budget calls for $10 billion in Medicaid cuts, maybe more, despite the fact that both this House and the other body explicitly rejected such cuts. That is a cut that is deeper even that originally was proposed by the President.

"Republicans must explain to the American people, who oppose Medicaid cuts by four-to-one, why they insist on slashing funds for sick children, seniors in nursing homes, and the disabled. Governors across the country, both Democrats and Republicans oppose these cuts because they know the devastating impact this will have on Americans, more than 1 million of whom will likely lose their health coverage.

"The reckless Republican budget does not stop with cuts in Medicaid and Social Security. Its wrong priorities mean cuts in education, Medicare, student loans, and changes in the pension guarantee program, which will cause Americans workers to lose their pensions.

"Democrats have a better idea. During the last years of President Clinton's Administration, the entire Social Security trust fund surplus was saved. And we were on a budget path to continue saving that money. We were on a path of $5.6 trillion in surplus. America would have been debt free by 2008. Think of it, our country would have been debt free by 2008. No more spending a big chunk of our budget on debt service interest payments, which soon will be bigger than all of our domestic discretionary spending.

"The Republicans have turned that $5.6 trillion surplus into a $4 trillion deficit, a $10 trillion -- I repeat a $10 trillion -- failure of leadership on the part of the Republicans.

"This budget that we are passing today will pass mountains of debt on to our children and grandchildren, jeopardizing our economic security by increasing our debt to China and Japan and other foreign investors.

"The Republican budget does not do justice; it does great harm to our country. Instead of being a statement of our values, the Republican budget is an assault on our values.

"I urge my colleagues to return to fiscal discipline, to honor our values, and to oppose this disgraceful Republican budget."

http://democraticleader.house.gov/press/releases.cfm?pressReleaseID=957