Congressman Paul Hodes Supports Controlling Federal Spending

Statement

Congressman Paul Hodes today released the following statement after voting for statutory PAYGO and for implementing spending caps.

"We must not saddle our children and grandchildren with mounting debt. If we increase permanent spending, we must pay for it or our children and grandchildren will. In the short term, we had to respond to our economic emergency to protect jobs, reform health care, and create a new energy economy and new clean energy jobs, but after stabilizing the economy, we have to keep spending in check or our deficit will spiral out of control. This proposal will cap spending and make it against the law to establish permanent spending programs without a revenue source."

The PAYGO bill that passed the House today is similar to the statutory PAYGO law that was in place in the 1990s, which helped turn massive deficits into record surpluses. The statutory PAYGO bill requires Congress to pay for the costs of tax cuts or increases in entitlement spending with savings elsewhere in the budget. Exceptions can be made if a situation is deemed an emergency, so that Congress is always able to respond quickly if necessary.

There are consequences for not paying for legislation, which will ensure that this new law is adhered to: If the net effect of all legislation enacted during a session of Congress increased the deficit, there would be an across-the-board reduction in certain mandatory programs, known as a sequester. Programs that assist low-income Americans would be protected, as would Social Security, and the effect on Medicare would be limited.

Source