WASHINGTON, D.C.–Washington, D.C. is a partisan world when it comes to making policies that shape the way your government operates. Another indication that political in-fighting will continue is the way Republicans reacted to Pres. Obama’s budget plan released Monday.
Mississippi’s senators, both Republicans, both released statements indicating they did not approve of the $4 trillion plan.
“The President has the right to propose all manner of new spending and tax increases in his budget request, but I think a Republican-led Congress will insist on greater budget discipline. Our country remains in a perilous fiscal situation, with debt levels projected to continue to rise to historic highs. The President’s budget does not address that fact, and would actually increase our debt by trillions of dollars over the next 10 years,” said Sen. Thad Cochran, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which decides what money goes where.
The president’s budget proposal for FY2016 is the beginning of the budget process.
Republicans have accused Obama of practicing tax ans spend fiscal policy.
“For its part, the Appropriations Committee will scrutinize the proposals under its jurisdiction and look closely at which programs are working well and which need to be improved or eliminated. We will work to ensure that tax dollars are used wisely and in the public interest,” said Cochran.
The President’s budget asks Congress to approve $2.1 trillion in new tax increases, which would be in addition to the $1.7 billion in tax increases already imposed during the Obama administration. The administration recommends growing federal spending by $259 billion, or 7 percent, next year. Under the FY2016 budget proposal, interest payments on the national debt would accelerate and soon rival spending sought for national defense, Medicaid or the combined total of all non-defense agency spending, said a news release from Cochran’s camp.
Obama’s plan includes a one-time tax on corporations that operate overseas to help replenish the country’s Highway Trust Fund, which could run out in May. That helps pay for road and bridge maintenance.
“President Obama is doubling down on the same tired tax-and-spend policies of the past. In the next ten years, we could be paying more money in interest than any other federal expenditure. Americans know that the Administration’s top-down approach does not work. These policies have stifled the middle-class and led to the weakest economic recovery in decades,” said Sen. Roger Wicker.
“In the coming weeks, Senate and House Republicans will begin turning the page by developing a budget plan that works for the American people – one that reforms the tax code, reduces spending, and controls debt.”
