The Hill Report: Week of March 23 - 27, 2009

This week in Washington, my House Republican Leadership colleagues and I announced our Road to Recovery plan for a fiscally-responsible budget alternative—a positive substitute to President Obama’s fiscal year 2010 budget, which spends too much, borrows too much, and taxes too much.

Republicans in Congress understand that future American prosperity requires fiscally-responsible policies in Washington today. Our budget plan offers a road to economic recovery that will allow families to keep more of what they earn, enable small businesses to create jobs, build innovative American energy solutions, reform entitlement programs, and implement 21st century healthcare solutions.

As a preview of the legislative budget text that we will introduce next week, my Minority colleagues and I on Thursday highlighted our top budget priorities.

Curb Spending
During this economic crisis, millions of Americans are tightening their fiscal belts and Washington should do the same. That is why the Minority budget will curb spending to ensure that the federal budget does not grow faster than American family budgets.

Our budget plan will enact common-sense reforms to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in government programs and shut down those that are identified as “ineffective” by the Government Accountability Office. In addition to reducing overall non-defense spending, our plan will apply savings from our reduced operations in Iraq to fund our commitment to veterans and to reduce the deficit.

Control Debt
As you may know, President Obama’s budget would double the national debt in six years, creating more debt than 42 previous American presidents did in 220 years. President Obama’s “News Era of Responsibility” budget should more aptly be named the “Era of National Bankruptcy” budget. 

             Congressional Budget Office analysis of deficits under the Obama Budget

In stark contrast, the Republican budget plan calls for reforming entitlement spending, which already encompasses more than half of federal spending each year. We need to modernize, streamline, and strengthen Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid to ensure their viability for future generations. And instead of using deficit spending to funnel more Americans into government-run healthcare programs, our plan provides tax incentives for access to private health coverage, enables healthcare portability across state lines, and prioritizes patient choice in healthcare.

And we call for an end to bailouts that are contributing to runaway Washington spending. The federal government has now become an owner in numerous private industries, and we cannot sustain a pattern of bailing out Wall Street, AIG, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the auto industry, and more.

Our budget plan will encourage long-term stability against runaway inflation by requiring the Federal Reserve to establish numerical definitions for price stability. Currently, the Federal Reserve places short-term economic growth policies over long-term price stability, producing uncertainty in the long run with loose monetary policies.

Cut Taxes to Create Jobs
House Republicans believe that a recession is no time to raise taxes on American families and employers. That is why our budget plan calls for the following job-creating, tax-relief provisions:

• Provide a new tax deduction worth up to 20 percent of income for companies with fewer than 500 employees.
• Reduce Capital Gains taxes to encourage investment and help individuals compensate for market losses.
• Permanently fix the Alternative Minimum Tax to prevent it from ensnaring middle-class families.
• Prevent death taxes, marriage penalties and high marginal income rates from rising.

In contrast to Obama’s budget plan to levy an energy tax worth up to $3,128 per American household, the Minority plan calls for all-of-the-above energy solutions—including tax incentives for clean, alternative energy source development such as natural gas, wind, solar, and hydroelectric.

The American people deserve much better than President Obama’s budget blueprint for record Washington spending, job-killing taxation, and debilitating national debt for our children and grandchildren.

American families don’t need a national energy tax of $3,128 a year. They don’t need Washington to double the national debt in six years. And they don’t need more government programs that compete with job-creators in the private sector. They know that President Obama’s budget is change in the wrong direction—change that taxes too much, borrows too much, and spends too much.

The American people deserve better, and as the Party of Ideas, my Republican colleagues and I will continue to develop positive economic growth policies as responsible alternatives to the tax-and-spend policies of President Obama and a Democratic Congress.


Chamber of Commerce Free Enterprise Award
Yesterday, I was honored to be the recipient of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Spirit of Enterprise Award for the second session of the 110th Congress. The U.S. Chamber presents the Spirit of Enterprise Award annually to Members of Congress for their support of pro-growth legislation based upon their vote on key business issues. 

Congressman Sessions receives Spirit of Enterprise Award from Chamber President/CEO Tom Donohue

Thomas J. Donohue, President and CEO of the U.S. Chamber, released the following quote about the award: