Portman Responds to President Obama's 2012 Budget Request

Statement

U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH), former director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and a member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement in response to President Obama's Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Request:

"America is in need of real leadership to address our fiscal threat. Unfortunately, the budget the President presented does not rise to the challenge. It is a political document that rejects the serious recommendations of the President's own commission. More spending, more borrowing and more taxes are not a prescription for spending constraint and economic growth. Since President Obama took office, we've seen trillions in new spending and record deficits. Today's budget just locks that new spending in place, doing nothing to pull back from the dangerous spiral of debt.

"Not only will our debt and deficit have a long-term impact on our children and grandchildren, who will have to foot the bill for today's spending, but we're beginning to see an immediate impact on our economic stability and job growth as the cost of our debt begins to crowd out private sector investment. We must move quickly to substantially reduce the debt and deficit to strengthen our fiscal house and foster job creation in Ohio and the rest of the country.

"I also urge Congress to move swiftly on recently proposed legislation that will put spending constraints in place going forward. A step in the right direction would be to pass the Balanced Budget Amendment, which will force Washington to spend within its means, just like American families and business owners do every day. The Reduce Unnecessary Spending Act, a proposal that several colleagues on both sides of the aisle and I introduced last week, will provide the President with legislative line-item veto authority and help reduce the deficit. These measures will help Washington weed out wasteful spending and jumpstart the economy."

Source