Gonzalez Statement on President's Budget

GONZALEZ STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT'S BUDGET

02/07/06

(Washington DC) Yesterday, the President sent his budget recommendations for the next fiscal year to Congress. The President proposed deep cuts in funding for Medicare, Medicaid, Education, State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP,) and the Army Corps of Engineers.

Despite these funding cuts, the President's budget would add $355 billion to the national debt if enacted. Moreover, the White House's budget numbers exclude supplemental appropriations, which have accounted for most the money spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and expenses related to Hurricane Katrina.

"This budget will make life harder for many Americans," said Congressman Charlie Gonzalez. "I call on my colleagues to draft a budget that will not cut vital services for the people who need help the most. Seniors, children and working Americans should not shoulder the burden of funding cuts. At a time when many American families are barely getting by, the President wants to remove some of the tools they've been using to make it.

Also, let us not lose sight of the bigger budgetary picture. Republicans claim the mantle of fiscal responsibility but their record indicates the opposite. At the same time Republicans trumpet funding cuts for vital services, they are giving away fiscal savings in the form of preferential tax treatment for the few. Last week, the Senate voted to make permanent $70 billion in revenue cuts.

As a result, the federal government gets pushed further into the red and the financial burden we will leave our children and grandchildren grows larger. It is irresponsible to leave a fiscal mess for the next generation to fix."

http://gonzalez.house.gov/issues2.cfm?id=11569