Issue Position: Fiscal Responsibility

Issue Position

Issue Position: Fiscal Responsibility

Cut Taxes for the Middle Class

The Bush Administration has let spending grow out of control. We're spending $12 billion a month on the Iraq War alone. We need to restore fiscal discipline in Washington or we will never get out of the economic mess George Bush has created. The Bush Administration has taken us from a $128 billion budget surplus to a $482 billion budget deficit, while adding over $3.5 trillion to the national debt. The Bush tax cuts gave 50% of the benefit to the wealthiest 1% of Americans.

After seven years of Bush economics, gas prices increased 270%, health care and college tuition costs are skyrocketing, and the average family income has fallen. I don't call that relief. Now more than ever, the middle class needs relief. We need to repeal tax cuts for the rich and replace them with tax cuts that benefit the middle class - the working families who need help right now, and who are the backbone of the American economy.

Create a New Business Tax Cut

I support cutting taxes to reward large and small businesses that create new jobs here in America - and a tax code that punishes those who export good jobs overseas.

Balance the Budget

I support fiscal responsibility and "pay as you go" budgeting. New Mexico's families have to budget responsibly, and the U.S. Congress should have to do the same. We need a balanced budget to get our economy on track again.

End Wasteful Government Spending

Just as many families in New Mexico have to do, the federal government needs to start tightening its belt and put an end to wasteful spending that benefits special interests. That means no more spending hundreds of millions of dollars for a bridge to nowhere in Alaska and no more sneaking pet projects into spending bills without any accountability.

We still need to support funding for our national labs, for water treatment facilities, and for other important transportation projects and healthcare and education programs that benefit the people of New Mexico. I'm proud to support these and that's why I put all of my spending requests on my Congressional website, so the public is aware of what my priorities are and can hold me accountable.

Pay As You Go

New Mexico's families have to budget responsibly. So should the United States Congress. Under the Bush Administration, our nation's budget went from a $5.6 trillion surplus to a $9 trillion deficit. We need to get back to fiscal discipline in the nation's capital or we will never get out of the economic mess George Bush and his Republican Congress have created. I support a "pay as you go" approach where any spending must be offset by savings elsewhere. This country can operate on a balanced budget - we did so under the Clinton administration and we must do so again.

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