Portman Statement on the CBO's 2015 Long-Term Budget Outlook

Statement

Today, U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, released the following statement on the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) 2015 Long-Term Budget Outlook:

"Today's budget outlook is another sobering reminder that we need a more efficient, effective, and accountable government so that the promises Washington has made to hard-working taxpayers in Ohio are kept. If Washington continues to spend money it doesn't have, its irresponsible fiscal policies will place an unfair burden on future generations. CBO's projections show that the declining deficits of the past few years are only temporary, and that Washington is about to bury the country in an avalanche of red ink. CBO projects that even the largest sustained surge of tax revenue in American history will not come close to paying for the historic increase in government spending. The more realistic 'alternative' scenario shows Washington adding $9 trillion to our already out-of-control debt over the next decade, followed by a staggering $117 trillion in debt over the following 29 years - at which point the projections stop, because the models cannot conceive of a functioning economy. It's time for Washington to confront these challenges by saving Social Security, Medicare, and our other important but unsustainable entitlement programs from bankruptcy so that they can be around for current and future generations. If we begin phasing in reforms now, we won't have to impose drastic reforms later to avoid this predictable economic crisis."

Source