Late last week, Congress reached a deal to keep the federal government funded until the current fiscal year ends on September 30th. When it is passed, the lengthy headache caused when the previous Nancy Pelosi-led Congress failed to pass a budget for this year will finally be over.
The deal also contains $38.5 billion in spending cuts. That’s the largest spending cut in American history, and it officially slams the brakes on the “stimulus spending binge” of recent years (which doesn’t seem to have stimulated much of anything beyond our national debt).
It’s a good start, but there’s much more work to do. When we’re facing a $1.6 trillion dollar federal deficit, trimming spending by $38.5 billion is barely a drop bucket. We need to cut trillions of dollars, not billions. And that’s where the new GOP budget enters the scene. The House Budget Committee, which I serve on, unveiled our spending plan for Fiscal Year 2012, which starts on October 1st. Where the Pelosi Congress failed to provide leadership, we delivered — and we delivered the major spending cuts that Granite Staters are rightfully demanding.
Congress now gets to choose between two very different spending plans, President Obama’s and ours. When you stack the two side by side and compare them, you see a stark difference.
Our budget, called the Path to Prosperity, takes a machete to spending and sends it spiraling downward. It cuts a whopping $6.2 trillion over a decade compared to the Obama budget,…
… which actually sends spending in the other direction by shelling out an additional $400 billion of your tax dollars. The Path to Prosperity shrinks the size of government to 20% of GDP within three years, and lowers it to 15% by 2050. The Obama budget keeps government growing by never letting spending drop below 23% of GDP.
The Path to Prosperity stops all of the Obama Administration’s taxes dead in their tracks, and reforms the broken tax code. The White House budget proposes $1.5 trillion in tax increases.
Perhaps most importantly, the Path to Prosperity dares to tackle the big ticket entitlement items (such as Medicare and Medicaid) that keep driving spending up and up. But this is no reckless “slash and burn” plan because it safeguards benefits for Granite Staters who rely on them. If you are age 55 or older, your benefits would not be touched under this plan. You’re going to hear a lot of scare tactics from the other side in the coming weeks, but let me repeat: if you are 55 years or older, your benefits won’t change. Not one bit. If you are under 55, our plan provides reforms and options needed to make sure your needs will be met in the future. Without these reforms, we face the certain fate of an even more oppressive debt burden.
On top of all that, the Path to Prosperity is a jobs-creating tool that gives small business owners the fiscal stability and predictability they need to expand with confidence and to hire more workers.
As Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan puts it, “Instead of letting deficits spiral out of control, our budget keeps borrowing in check and puts us on a path to balance. Instead of adding $13 trillion to the debt over the next decade, and trillions more in the years to come, this Path to Prosperity lifts this crushing burden of debt that is threatening our economy, and our children’s future.”
If you think the fight that Harry Reid and his allies waged last week, resisting a mere $38.5 billion in cuts to spending, was tough, just imagine what they’ll do in the coming weeks to stop us from cutting $6.2 trillion. If you share my desire to make these deep cuts in spending a reality, I have one piece of advice: Keep your powder dry, for you’re going to need it very soon.
So take a deep breath – the real spending cuts battle is just starting.
I look forward to reporting back to you in two weeks on the latest developments in Washington. In the meantime, if I can be of service to you, or if you want to share your thoughts, suggestions or concerns with me, please call either my district office in Manchester at (603) 641-9536 or my Washington office at (202) 225-5456, or contract me through my website at www.Guinta.House.Gov. Until next time, please know that I am always on your side and actively fighting for New Hampshire’s interests in Washington.
