Sessions, Ryan Issue Joint Statement On Jobs Report, Call For Senate Action On Budget
“Reports recently issued by the House Budget Committee and the minority staff of the Senate Budget Committee demonstrate that the federal government’s dramatic overspending and enormous debt burden are directly hurting job creation. Employers large and small know that today’s excessive borrowing will be tomorrow’s tax hikes and interest-rate increases. This lack of confidence in the future puts […]
Sessions, GOP Senators Warn Reid Against Blocking Budget, Debt Work In Senate
“To date, Republicans have offered a number of proposals to reduce and control spending, including a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution… However, as we understand it, [Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad’s] latest budget—announced last week—has, like those prior to it, only been unveiled to his Democratic colleagues with no scheduled action on it. We […]
“Phantom Budget”: Sessions Remarks On Unseen Democrat Resolution
“The Budget Committee Chairman says he now, once again, has a budget that he is sharing secretly with his Democrat colleagues. Yet we hear no indication that a full text of the resolution will be made public or, crucially, that it will be slated for a public mark-up in the Committee as required by law… […]
Sessions Announces Opposition To Libya Resolution, Urging Dems To “At Once” Begin Budget Work
“No real work is scheduled in the Senate this week on the budget, nor is any on the debt ceiling. Instead, we are moving today to a Libya resolution. This resolution, not requested by the president, is not why we asked to cancel recess… For this reason, I will oppose cloture today and urge the […]
Sessions And Ryan: Obama Administration Ignores Looming Medicare Bankruptcy
Speeches And Op-Eds From White House Won’t Save Medicare WASHINGTON—The Obama administration continues to overlook its legal obligation to address Medicare’s growing fiscal imbalance. Instead of offering constructive solutions to avert a looming crisis, the president’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, published a new opinion piece containing numerous falsehoods about the Republicans’ […]
Sessions Renews Call: Senate Shouldn’t Recess, Should Stay To Work On Debt Ceiling, Budget
“On the floor, we spend week after week on bills that have little or nothing to do with our economic danger. We name post offices and courthouses but ignore the gathering fiscal storm. And now the Senate is scheduled to take next week off… Before the Memorial Day recess I presented to the Majority Leader […]
Top Budget And Finance Republicans Tell President To Present Debt Plan Details For Committee Review
“We respectfully request that you provide us, in detail, the most recent version of the proposals that were discussed, including a list of any tax increases for which the White House reportedly advocated… The Congressional Budget Office needs time to review and analyze the proposals that were discussed, and the Budget and Finance Committees need […]
As Senate Schedule Raises Alarm, Sessions Announces Proposal Requiring Sufficient Time To Review Any Debt Limit Bill
“For weeks, Republicans have insisted that the Senate should not recess without working to control our enormous surging debt and unsustainable spending… But now it looks like we may be in session only for show—it seems no work is slated on cutting spending, developing a budget, or addressing the debt ceiling… Given where we are […]
How Debt Destroys Jobs–And Why We Need A Budget
Higher debt leads to slower economic growth. Empirical studies show that high levels of government debt inhibit economic growth by creating uncertainty, displacing needed private investment, and placing upward pressure on interest rates. For example, Reinhart and Rogoff found that, in advanced economies with gross government debt above 90 percent of GDP, median economic growth […]
Sessions Responds To Debt Talk Rift, Warns Against 11th Hour Deal
“It will be unacceptable for the White House talks, or any talks, to produce a controversial decision at the 11th hour and for its passage to then be demanded in panic… Additionally, raising the debt ceiling should not be accompanied by tax hikes. A punishing tax increase would not only threaten needed growth, it would […]