05.14.13

Sessions Comments On CBO’s Updated Budget Projections

WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding the May baseline update from the Congressional Budget Office:

“CBO’s baseline update, while providing some favorable change in deficit estimates, shows that the nation still faces a serious long-term problem. After temporary improvement, deficits begin a relentless rise after 2015. Revenues increase by 46 percent over the following 8 years, but spending surges by 55 percent. This is the definition of an unsustainable path. We remain on a course that will lead to fiscal crisis, as expert after expert has warned us.

More tax increases aren’t the answer. Revenues are already projected to increase above the 40-year average as a share of the economy. Rather than having higher taxes chase ever-higher spending, Congress must commit to balancing the budget over the next 10 years through prudent reductions in the growth rate of spending. CBO’s slightly more favorable outlook shows that the budget may be balanced with around $4 trillion in savings out of the total of $47 trillion in spending expected in the baseline.”