09.19.11

Sessions: No Net Spending Cuts In President’s Deficit Plan

“The White House is trying to be clever at the expense of being credible… [they claim] the president’s plan is $2 in spending cuts for every $1 in tax hikes. But in truth, the president’s deficit reduction comes entirely from tax hikes. Total federal spending, including the stimulus, will increase under the president’s plan, not decrease. On balance, there is not a penny of net spending that is cut… This plan is gimmick piled upon gimmick, adding up to little more than a tax hike camouflaged as fiscal restraint.”

WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today after the president submitted his recommendations to the Joint Select Committee for Deficit Reduction:

“Today marks the president’s fourth attempt to deliver a credible deficit plan in just 8 months. Regrettably, the president has once again failed to deliver the honest, straightforward plan that he promised—the plan that America deserves and that our economy needs.

When you remove the accounting tricks and Washington gimmicks from the president’s plan you’re left with only half of the $3 trillion in deficit reduction the White House promised. The White House also claims the president’s plan is $2 in spending cuts for every $1 in tax hikes. But in truth, the president’s deficit reduction comes entirely from tax hikes. Total federal spending, including the stimulus, will increase under the president’s plan, not decrease. On balance, there is not a penny of net spending that is cut.

The White House further claims the president’s plan would mean, in just a few years, that ‘current spending is no longer adding to our debt.’ But the president’s plan would never once produce a deficit smaller than $482 billion and would produce a deficit of $565 billion in its tenth year. Gross debt would grow by $9.7 trillion dollars.

The president also says his stimulus proposal is fully paid for. But the numbers show that the president’s stimulus will swell next year’s deficit by $348 billion—to $1.3 trillion—for the 4th consecutive year of $1 trillion-plus deficits.

This plan is gimmick piled upon gimmick, adding up to little more than a tax hike camouflaged as fiscal restraint. Promised spending control is nowhere to be found.

When you’re in a crisis you must deal honestly with the American people. You must present the facts along with a credible solution. Americans are good, decent, hardworking people who will accept a difficult course of action on honest terms. But the White House is trying to be clever at the expense of being credible. The debt is destroying jobs today—and if we are going to restore confidence and growth, credibility is one asset we cannot afford to borrow against.”

[NOTE: A Budget Committee Republican staff analysis of the president’s submission may be viewed here.]