U.S. Senate Budget Republican Recap 9/23/11

“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 – Ranking Member Sessions, addressing the discovery that the President’s fiscal plan contains less than half of the promised deficit reduction and not one cent of the promised spending reduction

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Compiled by Stephen Miller, Communications Director, US Senate Budget Committee:
“Astounding” Inaccuracies In President’s Plan
[The Senate Budget Committee Republican staff analysis of the plan — which explains in detail how the phony cuts are achieved — can be read here.]

Ranking Member Sessions, addressed the ‘astounding’ inaccuracies before the Budget Committee earlier this week:

“[On Monday, President Obama] made his fourth attempt this year to offer a credible fiscal vision. But I was disappointed to see that the president again failed to present the honest budget plan America deserves and our economy needs.

“The White House says that the president’s plan achieves $3.2 trillion in deficit reduction. The actual deficit reduction is only $1.4 trillion—less than half of what the White House states. Of note: this is $1.4 trillion in deficit reduction, not spending reduction.

“This has become the pattern: the president understates the depth of our fiscal danger, then overstates the scope of his fiscal plans.

“Consider the astounding disparity between the levels of taxation claimed versus those actually contained in the proposal. The White House asserts $2 in cuts for every $1 in tax hikes. The true figure is nowhere close. President Obama’s plan is comprised of tax hikes alone. There is not a single penny of net spending that is cut. Yesterday, the president said: ‘I’m proposing real serious cuts in spending. When you include the $1 trillion in cuts that I’ve already signed into law, these would be among the biggest cuts in spending in our history.’

“In reality, under the president’s plan, the net change in spending is an increase. In fact, the president’s plan is to keep spending more…”

Full remarks can be read here.

SEN. GRASSLEY DISCUSSES TAX INCREASES AND GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT
SEN. ENZI: ADMINISTRATION MUST STOP GETTING IN WAY OF JOB CREATION
SEN. GRAHAM ON PRESIDENT’S PLAN TO RAISE TAXES
SEN. JOHNSON ON HOW TO CUT SPENDING
SEN. TOOMEY ISSUES STATEMENT ON THE PRESIDENT’S DEFICIT REDUCTION PROPOSAL

What Did Sebelius Know About Health Program’s Unsustainable Cost?
On Thursday, a bicameral group of lawmakers sent a letter to Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, about the CLASS Act, a long-term care program created as part of the president’s healthcare bill. The letter calls on Sebelius
to answer questions about when she first became aware of internal HHS concerns over the program’s fiscal unsustainability that were not made public or shared with Congress when the program was being pushed by the administration.

Upon release of the CLASS working group letter, Ranking Member Sessions issued the following statement:

“Recently obtained emails show that throughout the healthcare debate there was substantial concern expressed by HHS and CMS officials over the CLASS program’s unsustainability. This raises a very serious question as to whether a deliberate effort was made by administration officials to conceal CLASS’ true cost in order to advance the president’s agenda. Accountability goes to the top. Lawmakers and the American people deserve to know when internal concerns over CLASS were first communicated to Secretary Sebelius and what, if any, actions she took to address them. Out of control government spending is threatening our nation’s future, making a prompt and thorough explanation all the more imperative. Accountability requires that top government officials be open, candid, and honest in their representations about these important issues. Serious questions have arisen that reflect poorly on our leaders.”

SEN. THUNE PRAISES BIPARTISAN REJECTION OF CLASS ACT

Senate Democrats Skip Budget, Appropriations, And Offsets
Today, Majority Leader Reid succeeded in tabling the House-passed short-term continuing resolution (CR) that would keep the government running past September 30th, the end of the fiscal year. Rather than allow the Senate to begin immediate consideration of his alternative CR, Majority Leader Reid has opted to delay consideration of his measure until Monday. Reid’s alternative strips offsets for more than $1 billion of disaster relief funding. Senate Democrats oppose efforts to pay for the spending, including the House GOP’s $100 million rescission to the scandalized Solyndra account [Section 1705 to the Energy Policy Act of 2005].

Ranking Member Sessions on Friday released a statement to put things in a wider perspective: “The current debate over yet another stopgap funding measure should be understood in one fundamental context: Senate Democrats have shunned their basic governing responsibility. They failed to follow regular order, produce appropriations bills, or pass a budget in 875 days.”

By The Numbers: Phony Cuts And Bogus Savings In President’s New Fiscal Plan
“I’m proposing real, serious cuts in spending… All told, this plan cuts $2 in spending for every dollar in new revenues.” – President Obama, announcing his latest fiscal vision

$1.4 trillion ................................. Actual deficit reduction through 10 years under the president’s plan, less than half the amount promised
Zero ........................................... Percent of deficit reduction that comes from spending cuts
$1.6 trillion ................................. Net tax increase over 10 years
$146 billion ................................. Spending increase over 10 years above current law levels
$9.7 trillion ................................. Additional gross debt that would accumulate over 10 years
$1.3 trillion ................................. Projected deficit in 2012, a $300 billion increase over OMB’s last projection
$293 billion ................................. Medicare “Doc Fix” cost that is assumed but not paid for
$565 billion ................................. Projected deficit in 2021
24 .............................................. Federal spending as a percent of GDP in 2021, a stunning 18 percent increase in the size of government relative to the historical average>
$47 trillion .................................. Total projected federal spending over 10 years
9.1 ............................................. Percent of workforce currently unemployed
24.9 ........................................... Millions of Americans unemployed and underemployed
25 .............................................. Months during Obama presidency that the unemployment rate has been above 9 percent

A Culture Of Federal Waste In A Time of Fiscal Crisis
This week, a Justice Department auditor found that the department spent $121 million over 2 years for event planning services—including muffins catered at a cost of more than $16 each—at law enforcement conferences across the country. As the Post noted, “Justice officials did not dispute most of the findings.” Among the auditor’s other findings:

Nearly $3,000 spent for 300 cookies and brownies
A $76-per-person lunch at a conference at in San Francisco
$8.24 spent for each cup of coffee

SEN. CRAPO CO-SPONSERS FINANCIAL REFULATORY RESPONSIBILITY ACT
SEN. CORNYN URGES WHITE HOUSE TO APPROVE STATE’S AMENDED FEDERAL DISASTER DECLARATION
SEN. PORTMAN INTRODUCES BILL TO REDUCE ONEROUS RED TAPE ON JOB CREATORS
SEN. AYOTTE QUESTIONS FORMER BUDGET DIRECTOR ALICE RIVLIN ON TAX REFORM

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