House Republican Whip Roy Blunt (Mo.) today issued the following statement supporting President Bush's budget for fiscal year 2008:
"The president's budget makes clear that we can balance the budget in five years without raising taxes or allowing the tax relief that has fueled our economic growth to expire. This is a great opportunity for Republicans and Democrats to work together to eliminate the deficit and bolster economic growth.
"The president understands, as do House Republicans, that tax increases on individuals or businesses would slow the economy, reduce take-home pay and job creation, and limit revenues to the federal government.
"Over the last several years, we have made tremendous progress reducing the deficit. The president's budget submission is a good starting point, but we can and should do more. By continuing to hold the line on spending, enacting pro-growth initiatives, and with bipartisan cooperation in Congress, we can surely balance the budget even sooner."
Congressman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Chairman of the Republican Study Committee, today issued the following statement on the President’s FY2008 budget proposal:
“I stand fully behind President Bush’s goal to balance the budget without raising taxes. His budget represents a strong starting point in this process and is an opportunity for Congress to restrain runaway spending, reform earmarks and restore the fiscal discipline that Americans expect in Washington.
“American families depend on a safe and secure retirement. The head of the GAO, the CBO, and the Chairman of the Federal Reserve all agree that soaring entitlement costs are the top fiscal problem facing America today and threaten our future. We can do more, and we must. I commend President Bush for his commitment to common sense entitlement reform and stand ready to help.
“This is not simply about Social Security, this is about retirement security. Strengthening entitlement programs cannot be a partisan issue, and now is the time for the Democrat majority to show their commitment to families across America by joining us to thoughtfully reform Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Failure to do so threatens the fiscal security of each and every American. If Congress simply agreed to spend the same amount of time discussing entitlement reform as we do renaming post offices, it’d be a good start.
“The pro-growth policies and tax relief that we have put into place have created a strong national economy – creating over seven million new jobs, increasing federal tax receipts and driving down the federal deficit. Democrats have a choice: they can work with the President and conservatives in Congress to keep taxes low, or they can repeat the failures of the past and force working families in America to ante up even more dollars each year to Washington. If Washington doesn’t take a lot of your money, Washington can’t spend at lot of your money.
“The American people deserve accountability in government. We can achieve this by injecting a little common sense to the budget process. If the Democrat majority doesn’t offer a budget that includes significant entitlement reform, any lip service that that they pay to fiscal responsibility will fall on deaf ears. Without entitlement reform, any Democrat plan will raise taxes on the American people by at least 50 percent in the years ahead.”
