04.10.13

Sessions: President’s Budget ‘Not Merely Reckless; It Is Unthinkable’

“This proposal goes to extraordinary lengths to shield the federal bureaucracy from any reform, even as millions of Americans are trapped in failed government programs. It grows the government at the expense of the economy. It enriches the bureaucracy at the expense of the people. And it threatens to permanently depress the American economy under a never-ending avalanche of debt.” 

WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding President Obama’s FY 2014 budget submission:

“Every expert and specialist has told us that our current spending trajectory is dangerously unsustainable. We know this. Yet the long-delayed White House plan—once all the gimmicks are removed—surges spending even more. After four years of trillion-dollar deficits, the President proposes a net spending increase of $1,025 billion above projected growth, including a $154 billion spending increase next year and a $61 billion increase this year. This is not merely reckless; it is unthinkable. Once again, the President has submitted one of the most irresponsible spending plans in the history of our nation.

Under this plan, spending will rise 56 percent from today’s levels—including a 70 percent increase welfare and poverty spending—and the debt will rise by $8.2 trillion. Despite promises of $1.8 trillion in deficit reduction, the budget contains only a tiny fraction of that amount, just $119 billion, meaning that our debt will surge to $25.4 trillion in 2023—permanently above the danger zone of 90 percent of GDP that is crushing growth and jobs today. Taking into account new spending this year, actual deficit reduction is just $59 billion.

This plan also betrays an arrogance in the White House: apparently they believe the government is perfect and requires no reform. They raise taxes by $1.1 trillion to spend even more money—taking from American workers to finance the continued expansion of the state.

This proposal goes to extraordinary lengths to shield the federal bureaucracy from any reform, even as millions of Americans are trapped in failed government programs. It grows the government at the expense of the economy. It enriches the bureaucracy at the expense of the people. And it threatens to permanently depress the American economy under a never-ending avalanche of debt.”

[NOTE: To view a joint Senate Budget Committee-House Budget Committee summary of the plan, please click here.]