President Obama's Budget passed through the House Committee on the Budget, of which I am a member, late Wednesday night on a party line vote. It will come to the House floor late next week, and I expect it to pass. Like the ‘non-stimulus package,’ I expect that not a single Republican will vote for it, and a few moderate Democrats will also likely oppose it. This budget quickly moves America to the sort of place that Pastor Rogers described in yesterday's quote.

I usually give you lots to read, but today I'll give you a few things to watch. Here is my opening statement on the budget debate.  It explains some of the reasons why I oppose this budget with such vigor. It is 3 minutes long.

If you want to see what a 30% tax increase looks like, take your paycheck and multiply the total taxes deducted by 1.3.  Then, subtract that from your gross income and that will be close to your new net income. So, if you made $3,000 gross and $2,000 net, you will now only net $1,700. Oh, and that won't include the cuts your employer has to make in order to pay for their tax increases. By the way, this budget includes all kinds of things that are minor in the grand scheme of things, but big to certain people. For instance, it would repeal the use of the ‘Last In, First Out’ (LIFO) inventory accounting method.  This will dramatically raise taxes on all retail businesses who carry inventory.

"…We're very serious about working on a bipartisan basis to reduce those deficits or reduce those costs.” – 3/24/2009:

Frankly, had the stimulus bill been anything remotely close to something Republicans could support, we would have had met the President way farther than half way, due to the severity of the current economic situation and his popularity at the time (which is now falling quickly). But he didn't. The stimulus was so far to the left that not one Republican voted for it, and some of the more centrist Democrats voted against it too. But he hasn't stopped there. He has since declared that his "cap and trade" energy proposal (which will double the cost of electric and heating bills nationwide) is "non-negotiable." Yeah, way to gain consensus. Now, he is proposing to use a "nuclear option" in the Senate for “cap and trade,” and socialized medicine plans so that he will not need any Republican votes, and can afford to lose some centrist Democrats as well. His agenda is left of center of the Democratic Party, not to mention the nation.

"…we invest in reform that will bring down the cost of health care for families, businesses, and government... And in this budget, we have ..." 3/24/2009

He included an extra $600 billion in his budget to cover the extra costs of his healthcare plan. How is that bringing down costs?

"We are in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression…" 10/07/2008

"We are beginning to see signs of recovery." -  3/24/2009: 

When he wants to spend money, he overstates the state of the crisis. Then, if people start to lose confidence, he understates it.

"I will make a firm pledge: I pledge under my plan, no one making less than $250,000 a year will see any type of tax increase, not income tax, not capital gains taxes, not any kind of taxes," - 11/12/2008: 

First of all, this is completely inaccurate on its face. The president's budget straight up limits tax deductions for incomes over $208,000 joint and $104,000 single.  Furthermore, it imposes an energy tax (cap and trade) which is expected to double utility rates for everyone regardless of income.  Additionally, the president is guilty by omission.  There is no way he can spend the money he wants to without raising taxes on everyone at some point. You can confiscate all income over $250,000 (a more plausible idea after the bonus vote last week) and you would not balance the Democrat budget over the next 10 years. It would require a 30% increase in EVERY federal tax on EVERBODY, at EVERY level, in order to pay for the spending they want.  That's 30% more social security tax, Medicare tax, income tax, corporate tax, capital gains tax, alternative minimum tax, etc. That's the real message in his budget.

President Obama likes to speak. He likes to speak a lot. At one point while I was recovering from my surgery, I remember seeing him give 3 separate televised speeches on the same day!  Whether it's Leno or a prime time press conference, he's on TV saying something pretty much every day.

But is he doing what he is saying? A couple of weeks ago an editorial appeared in none other than the Washington Post (not exactly a conservative publication) suggesting that he is saying one thing and doing another. I agree. Here are some specific examples:

"…I've pledged to slash earmarks by more than half when I am President" Candidate Obama - 11/22/08: 

But one of his very first acts was to sign a massive spending bill with nearly 9,000 earmarks costing over $7.7 billion. Heck, he didn't even ask, or try to ask, that the earmarks be removed.  He appears to have no intention of following through on this popular campaign pledge.

"…I pledged to cut the deficit in half by the end of my first term in office" Address to Joint Session of Congress - 2/24/09:

This statement is so far from the truth that I hardly know where to start. The budget, as computed by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, does cut the budget in half in 5 years, but only because the first year deficit has been enlarged so much (to $1.8 trillion) by the stimulus package and omnibus spending bill.  It's like pledging to lose 10 pounds, but then gaining 20 pounds first. Secondly, after the 5th year, it rises again dramatically every year thereafter, even under his own numbers!  His 5 year number is only a brief moment in time. His budget averages over $1 trillion in deficit a year for as far as the eye can see. He will add more debt in 6 years than was accumulated by every president from George Washington to George W Bush. But, more on the budget tomorrow.

"So if you look at our budget, what you have is a very disciplined, fiscally responsible budget…” - 3/06/2009: 

Give me a break. This is clearly the least responsible budget ever proposed, for the reasons I have laid out above.

Congressman Ryan (WI) is the Ranking Member from the Committee on the Budget, and the main designer of the American Roadmap. 

America is on an unsustainable fiscal course. Today, the unfunded liability of just our two largest entitlement programs – Medicare and Social Security – is $40 trillion. That’s nearly $400,000 for every household in the U.S., and this burden continues to grow every year Congress fails to act.

If we continue down this path and do nothing to reform these programs -- the federal government will double in size, shackling the country with a future of higher debt, higher taxation, and a lower standard of living.

It is unconscionable to leave our children with this type of future. America’s legacy has always been to leave the next generation better off than the one before it. Unfortunately, Congress’ unwillingness to address the nation’s entitlement crisis threatens to shatter this legacy. 

That’s why I’ve introduced A Roadmap for America’s Future, comprehensive legislation that seeks to transform the major federal entitlement programs, as well as the federal tax code.  My plan achieves three important goals: 1) it provides universal access to health care and saves Social Security and Medicare; 2) it lifts the looming debt burden off of future generations; and 3) it ensures America leads and continues to create jobs in an increasingly competitive global economy. 

Rather than working to address the unsustainable growth in the entitlement programs, many in Congress claim it’s not politically feasible to try to reform them in an election year. Well, it’s an election year every other year.  They make excuses, taking a pass on tackling a problem that is going to tackle us. 

Not Representative John Campbell.  He understands this problem and wants to fix it.  He has the courage to talk about what is necessary to address this problem, and I’m lucky to have him as a cosponsor on my bill. 

America has risen to overcome greater challenges in the past.  With the leadership from members like John Campbell and the ingenuity, strength and resolve of Americans, we can solve this problem and leave a greater legacy for our children and grandchildren.  

For more details on A Roadmap for America’s Future, please visit www.americanroadmap.org. 

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)
Ranking Member
Committee on the Budget 

I find that often times political cartoons can express a sentiment just as strongly as words do, and occasionally I post them here for you to see. 

If a picture is worth a thousand words, this is worth at least 50 billion more…



Published in National Journal’s CongressDailyAM on June 9, 2008.

Today the House will consider the Budget Resolution Conference Report for 2009.  The report calls for record tax increases, increases discretionary spending by $241 billion above the President’s level over 5 years, and does nothing to reform entitlements or earmarks. Below are some of the highlights of what this budget WILL do:

• Raises taxes by at least $683 billion over the next 5 years. These include increases in marginal tax rates; elimination of the 10-percent bracket for lower-income taxpayers; restore the marriage penalty, the death tax, as well as install higher tax rates on investments.
• Authorizes More Than $1 Trillion over and above entitlements. The conference report increases so called “discretionary spending” by $21 above the President’s request, pushing it above $1 trillion for 2009. This translates to a spending increase of $241 billion when extended over 5 years.
• Entitlements Continue on Automatic Pilot. This budget does nothing to address the growing entitlement problem. Medicare and Social Security alone currently face $40 billion in unfunded liabilities, and that figure is growing unchecked every year.
• Record Debt Increase. Although Democrats claim to balance the budget by 2012, the conference report results in the largest debt increase in history – from $8.951 trillion in 2007 to $9.575 trillion in 2008 – and increase of $624 billion this year.
• No Earmark Reform. Having repeatedly decried the scandal of earmarks, the Majority does nothing in the budget to address them. Last year’s appropriations bills included some 11,000 earmarks totaling $14.8 billion – and under this budget, the trend will continue.

Not only will this budget stifle economic growth, it will increase our debt level, and authorize an enormous amount of money for discretionary spending.  That isn’t even accounting for what the budget fails to do! ….Scary thought isn’t it?

“This bill is the culmination of 12 months of procrastination, broken promises and misplaced priorities. Experts looking for an explanation of Congress’ historic low approval ratings should look no further than this bill.”