Gregg Says Republicans Will Propose Amendments to Obama’s Budget
GOP Budget
New Hampshire Union Leader
Aoife Connors
Boston University Washington News Service
March 24, 2009
WASHINGTON – President Obama’s $3.6 trillion budget for 2010 will change the course of the nation in a fundamental way over an extended period of time, Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H, said Tuesday, as he led a press conference held by the Republican members of the Senate Budget Committee.
The biggest problem with the budget, Gregg said, is that Obama “doesn’t pay for it, even though he significantly raises taxes.”
The budget contains the largest tax increase ever, “yet those tax dollars are not used to essentially close the gap and make the budget more affordable, make spending more affordable, reduce the deficit and reduce the debt,” Gregg said.
Republicans say the budget will explode the size of government and leave the country with a debt that will be passed on to future generations. Gregg said the president has showed us that the debt will double in five years and triple in ten years. “That is an incredible statistic,” he said.
He added, “Think of the implications of that to a country, tripling the debt over 10 years that essentially increases the government debt by more than all of our budgets, all the debt ever put on the American people, from George Washington to George W. Bush.”
Gregg said it should be a serious concern for the nation that the international community, including the Chinese Central Bank, is “questioning the value of our dollar and questioning the stability of our debt, the worthiness of our debt.”
Gregg said if Obama wants to dramatically expand government spending in the next 10 years, he needs to figure out a way to pay for it.
Speaking about Obama’s initiatives on health care, energy and education in his budget, Gregg said, “I have a difference of opinion on a number of these issues and I agree with him on some other issues.”
Gregg said the Republicans intend to propose amendments to the budget that would “limit the rate of growth of government on the discretionary side, on the entitlements side,” and bring down the debt and bring down the deficit.
“We’re going to come forward with a whole series of amendments which essentially will construct what would be a budget but will be not be a formal budget on the floor,” Gregg added.
He concluded by saying that what the president’s budget is passing onto our kids “is a country they can’t afford.”
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