Rep. Tom Allen: Restoring PAY-GO Means "The Era of Budget Recklessness Has Come to an End"
Rep. Tom Allen: Restoring PAY-GO Means "The Era of Budget Recklessness Has Come to an End"
U.S. Representative Tom Allen hailed House action today to reestablish the "pay-as-you-go" (PAY-GO) rules that were instrumental in eliminating deficits and creating surpluses during his first two terms in Congress.
"Democrats promised to return their government to the American people, and nowhere is that more important than in the way we spend their tax dollars," Representative Allen said. "Today's action to restore pay-as-you-go budget rule paves the way for a return to the fiscal responsibility that in the 1990s enabled us to balance the nation's books and make government live within its means just like America's families and America's businesses. Abandonment of PAY-GO enabled President Bush and his supporters in Congress to pass their massive tax cuts for the wealthy, fund enormous giveaways to energy, pharmaceutical and insurance companies and embark on a six-year spending spree that left our nation awash in red ink. With the reinstitution of PAY-GO, Democrats have asserted loud and clear that the era of budget recklessness has come to an end."
The PAY-GO rules that were in effect from 1990 to 2002 required that if Congress increased spending on an existing program, caused additional costs by creating a new program or reduced revenues by cutting a tax it must offset the additional cost or loss in revenues either through decreased spending elsewhere or a tax increase to offset the additional spending.
"Over the last six years without PAY-GO in effect, I consistently opposed measures that violated the PAY-GO principle," Representative Allen said. "Having served in Congresses during 1990s that operated under PAY-GO, I voted for balanced budgets that invested in middle class families and fueled one of the strongest periods of economic growth in our nation's history. By returning to PAY-GO budget honesty and fairness, we reassure the American people that fiscal discipline is again the rule in the People's House."
http://tomallen.house.gov/index.cfm?ContentID=304&ParentID=4&SectionID=15&SectionTree=4,15&lnk=b&ItemID=300