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10 Things Every American Should Know About President Obama’s Budget

Courtesy of House Republican Leader John Boehner's blog

Working families and small business owners understand that making government live within its means is essential to building confidence in our economy both at home and abroad.  That’s why the American people have been saying to Washington: “stop spending money we don’t have.”  Democrats still haven’t gotten the message and President Obama has proposed another budget that spends too much, taxes too much, and borrows too much.  Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC) sums up Washington Democrats’ viewpoint best: “We are not going to save our way out of this recession.  We are going to spend our way out of this recession.”  How’s that approach been working out for families asking “where are the jobs?”

Here are 10 things every American should know about President Obama’s budget:

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: SPENDS TOO MUCH, TAXES TOO MUCH, AND BORROWS TOO MUCH

1. President Obama’s budget spends too much.  Under President Obama’s budget, the federal government would spend a record $3.8 trillion in the fiscal year beginning October 1. This represents a nearly 30 percent increase in outlays since 2008.  The President’s budget would also maintain the size of government for a second year in a row at 25 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), well above historical levels of 20 percent.

2. President Obama’s budget taxes too much.  The President’s budget includes more than $2 trillion in tax hikes, with a nearly 20 percent jump in the first year alone.  This includes tax increases on small businesses, investors, and families earning less than $250,000 per year – a violation of the President’s campaign pledge.  The last thing American families and small businesses need right now are new taxes that make it harder to save, invest, and hire.

3. President Obama’s budget borrows too much from our kids and grandkids.  Under the President’s budget, the federal government will run up a record budget deficit of $1.6 trillion in fiscal year 2010.  Deficits never fall below $700 billion, never fall below 3.6% of GDP, and end the decade at more than $1 trillion.  The national debt would double over five years and triple by FY2019 from FY2008 levels.  Paying the interest on this debt would set American taxpayers back roughly $6 trillion over the next decade.

SPENDING FREEZE A GOOD FIRST STEP, BUT WE NEED TO DO MORE – AND NOW


4. President Obama’s proposed spending freeze is a good step in the right direction, but we need to do more.  Serious fiscal responsibility requires more than a few cuts here and there at the margins. Republicans have proposed adopting strict budget caps that limit federal spending on an annual basis and are enforceable by the President.  These caps were a critical plank in the budget alternative Republicans proposed last year, led by Budget Committee Ranking Republican Paul Ryan, and they are notably absent from the President’s budget. Without these caps, the federal budget deficit will continue to spiral out of control.

5. President Obama’s budget green-lights more government ‘stimulus’ spending now while delaying any spending freeze.  Last Friday, the President told House Republicans that delaying his proposed spending freeze represented the “consensus among people who know the economy best.”  In December, Leader Boehner released a list of 222 economists who support getting runaway federal spending under control -- rather than adding more ‘stimulus’ spending -- in order to help create jobs and get the economy back on track.

6. President Obama turns over tough spending choices to a deficit commission “without teeth.” As the Associated Press notes, “the commission has yet to be appointed and there's no sure path to having its recommendations considered by Congress.”

OUT-OF-TOUCH: DOUBLING DOWN ON THE TRILLION-DOLLAR ‘STIMULUS’ AND COSTLY, JOB-KILLING POLICIES

7. President Obama’s budget contains a “secret sequel” to the trillion-dollar ‘stimulus’ it concedes isn’t working as promised.  A majority of Americans oppose the trillion-dollar ‘stimulus’ and nearly three in four say it has wasted taxpayer dollars.  What’s worse, President Obama’s budget projects that unemployment will remain near 10 percent through the end of this year.  The Obama Administration promised the trillion-dollar stimulus would create jobs ‘immediately’ and keep joblessness below eight percent.

8. President Obama’s budget fails to pivot away from costly, job-killing policies that are causing uncertainty and making matters worse.  President Obama’s budget accounts for the implementation of both a  government takeover of health care and a ‘cap-and-trade’ national energy tax, two job-killing bills the American people have rejected loudly and clearly.  The President calls for a new national energy tax to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent by 2020 – a proposal which CBO has estimated would increase taxes by $870 billion, a full $224 billion more than President Obama’s proposal in the FY2010 budget.

BIPARTISAN SUPPORT FOR OUR TROOPS, BIPARTISAN OPPOSITION TO IMPORTING DANGEROUS TERRORIST
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9. President Obama’s budget spends hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to import dangerous terrorists to U.S. soil and give them the same rights as U.S. citizens.  Republicans have stood with the American people from the beginning to oppose the Obama Administration’s severely misguided plan to try the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks and his-co conspirators in civilian courts in downtown Manhattan. In recent days, more Democrats have followed suit.  Yet, the President’s budget irresponsibly spends hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on importing dangerous terrorists to U.S. soil, housing them at a ‘Gitmo North’ facility and trying them in civilian courts.

10. President Obama’s budget ensures our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have the resources they need to succeed in their mission.   This is an area in which Republicans hope to continue finding consensus with the President.
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