Oversight
Chairman Enzi: Confront spending, make tough decisions
U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, spoke this morning on how the president's FY2016 budget proposal lacks needed fiscal reforms and only accelerates the nation's plunge towards higher interest payments and more debt. In his opening statement before the Senate Budget Committee, Enzi also highlighted how we need to be working toward a balanced budget, not rehashing old ideas of taxing more and spending more. It's time for a new direction according to the Cha… Continue Reading
02.02.15
President Obama proposes the same failed policies
Today, the White House released President Obama's budget request for Fiscal Year 2016 - a proposal that never balances and includes a $2.4 trillion spending increase, a $2.1 trillion tax increase and adds $8.5 trillion to the national debt. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) and House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price, M.D. (GA-06) issued the following joint statement in response: "Our nation is on a fiscal and economic path that is simply unsustainable. Failed policies and sta… Continue Reading
01.29.15
Member Comments and Staff Analysis Of The Congressional Budget Office’s Budget And Economic Outlook, 2015–2025
"Political differences shouldn't prevent us from taking bold, decisive action to address America's dire financial outlook. Republicans and Democrats agree that being $18 trillion in debt today and facing the prospect of spending more than $800 billion a year on interest payments alone does not lend itself to a prosperous future for our country. CBO's numbers only reinforce this notion. The longer we postpone reforms and put off making tough decisions, the deeper the hole we have to climb out of.… Continue Reading
01.26.15
New Budget chair says budget projections show need for urgent course correction
Washington, D.C. - The Congressional Budget Office is expecting our nation's debt to grow by $9 trillion over the next decade. U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said this is a problem we can no longer run from, but one we must confront: "The past will catch up to us no matter how fast we run from it. The Congressional Budget Office's new figures show our failure to root out wasteful spending and live within our means. This has left us with an endless … Continue Reading
12.17.14
Sessions Comments On Committee Plans For 2015
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding committee plans for next year and his friend Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY): "My good friend Mike and I have been close since we both entered the Senate together 18 years ago. We will long remain good and close friends. We have talked and I am deferring to his seniority so that he can lead the Budget Committee as its Chairman beginning in 2015. Mike graciously defer… Continue Reading
12.05.14
Sessions: Restoring Opportunity For American Workers Highest Priority For New GOP Congress
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today as the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the population of Americans not in the labor force increased to more than 92.4 million last month: "While there was some modest improvement in this morning's jobs report headline, millions of Americans felt another month go by out of work and with little hope of finding a job. The report gives the appearance of progress, b… Continue Reading
11.12.14
Sessions Lays Out Financial Agenda For New GOP Majority In Address To Coolidge Foundation Budget Conference
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, delivered the following keynote address today at the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation's national budget conference. Sessions emphasized the need to balance the federal budget within 10 years, impose financial discipline on federal agencies, and improve economic conditions for American workers: "I would like to thank all of our distinguished panelists. In particular, I would like to thank the Calvin … Continue Reading
10.23.14
Health Policy Experts Agree With SBC Analysis Of CBO Data: Obamacare Makes Deficits Worse
"I will not sign a [health care] plan that adds one dime to our deficits -- either now or in the future. I will not sign it if it adds one dime to the deficit, now or in the future, period." President Barack Obama, remarks to a Joint Session of Congress (September 9, 2009) ***** "One of the strongest arguments for passage of the law was the contention, backed up by a CBO estimate [at the time], that its combination of tax increases and spending cuts would exceed the cost of the law and reduce … Continue Reading
10.16.14
Highlights Of Waste And Abuse In The Obama Administration
In advance of President Obama unveiling his FY 2015 budget earlier this year, senior White House staff signaled to the Washington Post that the plan would "call for an end to era of austerity." This despite the fact that the nation has spent $21.1 trillion since 2009. Gross federal debt has increased by $7.23 trillion (or more than 68 percent) since that time, yet President Obama and his allies continue to insist that more "investments" are needed. But the federal government already wastes hund… Continue Reading
10.16.14
Obamacare’s Five Biggest Broken Promises
1. Won't Add To The Deficit: In a speech before a joint session of Congress in 2009, the President had this to say: "And here's what you need to know. First, I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits-either now or in the future. I will not sign it if it adds one dime to the deficit, now or in the future, period." He later added that "it is paid for. It is fiscally responsible. And it will help lift a decades-long drag on our economy." REALITY: A Senate Budget Committee analysi… Continue Reading
10.14.14
Analysis Of CBO Data Shows That Obamacare Will Increase Deficit Over Next Decade
Notwithstanding the numerous budget gimmicks and accounting tricks used in the Democrats' health plan to hide its true cost, the Congressional Budget Office's final cost estimate of the legislation issued in March 2010 concluded that-based on its scoring conventions and assuming the law would be fully implemented as written-the health care-related provisions of the plan would reduce the federal budget deficit by $124 billion over the FY 2010-2019 period.[1] Since that time, CBO has updated estim… Continue Reading
10.03.14
Sessions: 12 Million More Americans Outside Workforce Today Than In 2009
"Three-fourths of Americans say we remain in a recession-and there are sound reasons for such personal beliefs. Declines in wages and the percentage of people actually working have been hammer blows to working families." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today as the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that a record high number of Americans are not in the labor force: "The jobs report does not signal that l… Continue Reading
10.02.14
The Obama Economy: A Chart Book
The great economic tragedy of our time is the erosion of the American middle class. Millions of Americans find themselves locked out of the American Dream. Their wages are either flat or falling, even as the price of energy and goods surges; the labor force is shrinking; and the government stimulus which was claimed to lift the economy to prosperity has instead sunk the nation into a chasm of debt. This chart book highlights what working people know all too well: under President Obama, economic… Continue Reading
09.30.14
GAO: Obama Admin Has No Legal Authority To Make Risk Corridor Payments Without Congressional Action
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, and U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, released the following statements today after the Government Accountability Office issued a legal opinion at their request regarding the risk corridor program in Obamacare: "GAO has confirmed beyond dispute that the Department of Health and Human Services has no legal authority to disburse risk corridor payments under Oba… Continue Reading
09.18.14
Sessions Opposes Continuing Resolution
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding the passage of a short-term, stopgap funding bill: "Once again, we were asked to vote for a massive, catch-all bill to fund the entire government without an opportunity to meaningfully review it, and we were blocked by Leader Reid from offering a single amendment. Leader Reid has strong-armed the Senate to shut down debate and rush through legislation at the 1… Continue Reading
09.09.14
Sessions Sounds Alarm Over HHS Policy Allowing Welfare Cash To Be Withdrawn In Marijuana Stores
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding a response he recently received from the Department of Health and Human Services to his oversight letter on welfare payments being withdrawn at marijuana dispensaries: "The federal government current spends roughly $750 billion each year on means-tested welfare programs across 80 different accounts. This money is administered by a vast, sprawling bureaucracy w… Continue Reading
09.05.14
Sessions: Under Obama, 13 Million More Adults But 7 Million Fewer Workers
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding the August jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics: "Today's jobs report came in far below expectations. Twice as many people left the labor force last month as found jobs, and there are now 92.3 million people outside the workforce entirely. The number of workers in the labor force has fallen by more than 7 million since President Obama took office, e… Continue Reading
08.27.14
SBC Staff Analysis Of CBO’s Updated Budget And Economic Outlook
The Budget OutlookAccording to CBO's updated budget projections released today, the federal government is on track to spend $3.5 trillion in the fiscal year ending September 30. Tax collections will total $3.0 trillion, resulting in a deficit of $506 billion. This estimate is $14 billion above CBO's April estimate of $492 billion, and is the net effect of lower revenues of $26 billon and lower spending of $11 billion (difference due to rounding). Spending will grow by 65 percent between 2014 an… Continue Reading
08.01.14
Sessions: 4 In 10 American Adults Not Working
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today after the release of the July jobs report: "Our economy continues to perform at an unacceptable level: 4 in 10 U.S. adults are either unemployed or not in the workforce at all. Unemployment for Americans without a high school diploma stands at 9.6 percent. Youth unemployment is 20.2 percent. For African-American youth, is it 34.9 percent. Median household income is $2,0… Continue Reading
07.15.14
CBO Report: After Doubling In Last Six Years, Debt Will Explode In Coming Decades
The latest Long-Term Budget Outlook of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that debt held by the public will grow from almost $13 trillion today to $21 trillion 10 years from now and $53 trillion in 25 years under the assumption that current law is unchanged. (CBO discusses only public debt in its long-term outlook, but it is necessary to bear in mind that gross debt, which includes intragovernmental obligations that must be honored, is and will continue to be significantly higher.) P… Continue Reading
