Chairman Graves: Cut, Cap, and Balance Act Is the "Balanced Approach' the President Has Been Requesting

Press Release

House Small Business Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) today issued the following statement regarding the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011 (H.R. 2560). The House is expected to vote on the legislation this evening.

"Washington must start spending less and stop spending money we don't have. We are $14 trillion dollars in the hole-- with $3.7 trillion added to the national debt just since President Obama took office. To put this in perspective-- it took the U.S. from 1776 until 1992 (216 years) to accrue the same amount of debt that the president accumulated in two in a half years. At this rate, we are on the fast track to fiscal calamity.

"With unemployment at 9.2 percent, we must enact a plan that will bring confidence and certainty to America's best job creators-- small businesses-- without raising taxes as Democrats have demanded. We all agree that we must pay our bills, but raising taxes in order to sustain Washington's largesse is not the answer--real and significant spending cuts are. The Cut, Cap, and Balance Act would provide them.

"We are two weeks out and neither the president nor Congressional Democrats have offered a plan. House Republicans have offered a common sense plan that will get our fiscal house in order and provide confidence for our job creators. President Obama has asked for a balanced approach and that's exactly what the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act is. It's time for his actions to line up with his words."

The Cut, Cap, and Balance Act would codify the cuts made in the Ryan budget and raise the debt ceiling by $2.4 trillion contingent upon a Balanced Budget Amendment being sent to the states for ratification. It would also:

* Cut: Save $111 billion in 2012 and around $5.8 trillion over ten years.
* Cap: Bring the size of government back below 20% of GDP to its average level over the last 30 years. Breaking the caps triggers automatic spending cuts.
* Balance: Grant President Obama's request for an increase in the debt limit, but only after Congress has cut up the credit cards by passing a Balanced Budget Amendment.

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