McKeon Statement on President Obama's Budget

Statement

Congressman Howard P. "Buck" McKeon made the following statement on the President's budget submission:

"Today the President released a budget proposal that is disappointing and nothing more than a document that reaffirms the President's belief in the status quo of big government, big spending and big deficits. With 4 plus years of record unemployment and unsustainable deficits, the status quo is not working. Instead of proposing serious budget reforms that would get our economy back on track and our country out of the red, the President is proposing to raise taxes by $1.1 trillion, increase government spending to the tune of $964 billion and add $8.2 trillion to our national debt. This budget makes no attempt to balance, to address the serious reforms needed in our mandatory spending or to pay down our unsustainable debt. Unfortunately, the President's small deficit reduction proposals are not real, and are instead based on tax increases and phantom math. This budget proposal is a missed opportunity to come to the table with serious ideas that could lead to workable solutions for the American people.

"I am also gravely concerned about the national security implications of the President's proposal. My job as Chairman of the Armed Services Committee is to listen to the advice of our senior commanders and ensure that Congress meets our responsibility to 'provide for the common defense.'

"Two months ago, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff testified before my committee that our military could not absorb any additional cuts and continue to carry out the missions the country has assigned to them. In the ensuing weeks the situation in Syria became more volatile, we are in a stand-off with North Korea, and we appear to be opening a North African front in the War on Terror. In other words, we are already adding to what we have asked our military to do while the President cuts their resources. Now, with no assessment of strategic impact, the President has proposed yet another arbitrary cut of $120 billion from the military.

"Historically, Congress and the White House have both proven to be poor judges of where and how we will have to fight to preserve our liberty. What we can say with certainty is that the fight will come. By levying more cuts on the military, the President has decided that a future generation of Americans won't have what they need on that day.

"All this said, I am pleased that after 4 years of broken governing, the House, the Senate and the Administration have all crafted budget proposals for consideration. I am hopeful that we can now move forward with full participation from both chambers of Congress and the White House to come up with a real budget for the American people."

Highlights of President's Budget:

$120 Billion in Additional Cuts to Defense

$8.2 Trillion in New Debt

· Accounting for the cost of eliminating the sequester and removing the budget gimmicks, net deficit reduction is only $119 billion.

· Additional deficit increase in FY2013: $61 billion

· Total U.S. debt in 2023: $25.4 trillion

· Debt increase per household: $60,980

· Interest payments on the debt in 2023: $763 billion

· Deficit in 2023: $439 billion

$1.1 Trillion in New Taxes

· President Obama's budget increases taxes by $1.1 trillion--on top of $1 trillion in taxes from Obamacare and more than $600 billion from the President's recent tax hike.

$964 Billion in New Spending above Projected Growth

· Spending increase next year alone: $154 billion

· Additional spending in FY2013: $61 billion

· Total spending over ten years: $46.5 trillion

· Rate of annual increase in mandatory spending: 5.2%

Source