Oversight
Borrowing The Future: A Summary Of President Obama’s FY12 Education Budget Request
The president tells the American people that his FY 2012 budget "asks Washington to live within its means," but his request for the Department of Education shows how far this rhetoric is from reality. After spending nearly $300 billion on education over the last three years, the president is requesting $77.4 billion for the department, an 11-percent increase from the current funding level. By the end of the decade, surging federal spending will require annual interest payments of $844 billion, … Continue Reading
10.12.11
The President's Budget Spends, Taxes, And Borrows Too Much - Stifling Job Growth Today And Threatening Our Economic Future
In challenging times, a chief executive must lead. But President Obama has failed to confront the fiscal and economic challenges before us. Instead, he continues down the same unsustainable path: growing the government, weakening the economy, and increasing the burden of debt on each and every American. Spends Too Much: $8.7 Trillion In New Spending Despite this year's $1.6 trillion deficit, the president still refuses to change course and reduce spending. Under his budget, the size of governm… Continue Reading
10.12.11
Under President Obama’s Spending “Freeze,” The Debt Will Grow $4 Trillion In 5 Years
The president's "freeze" would continue dramatically increased spending levels at a time when we have a $1.5 trillion deficit, producing an estimated $3.8 trillion in accumulated deficits over the next 5 years.[1] It maintains inflated levels of non-defense discretionary spending while allowing for ongoing increases in the rest of the budget. The "freeze" pushes us down the path to a total debt[2] of $21.2 trillion by 2016-well over 100 percent of GDP. The levels locked in by the "freeze" foll… Continue Reading
10.12.11
Democrats Take Heat For Skipping Budget As Spending And Debt Spiral Out Of Control
"…Democrats still run the Senate... When it comes to their core responsibility under the law of passing a budget resolution, they are A.W.O.L." Wall Street Journal (Cool Hand Harry) "While Mr. Obama has tried to set parameters for budget negotiations, his party has yet to settle on a plan for Medicare or the broader budget issues. And failure to address the nation's fiscal problems aggressively could carry its own risk for Democrats..." New York Times (Democrats Put G.O.P. On Spot As Med… Continue Reading
10.11.11
Sessions: President’s Jobs Bill Rejected Over Substance, Not Politics
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today as voting continued on proceeding to President Obama's second stimulus bill, with members on both sides of the aisle voting in opposition: "The president has demanded a jobs bill vote and he got it. The Senate tonight is set to reject his latest tax-and-spend plan that would dig our debt hole nearly $500 billion deeper and increase taxes. This bill was not rejected for… Continue Reading
10.06.11
Budget Republicans Call For Hearing To Uncover Why CLASS Act Warnings Were Not Made Public
"Transparency is crucial… There are a number of important questions that remain unanswered." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, and U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-SD), Chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, were joined today by Republican Members of the Senate Budget Committee in sending a letter to Chairman Kent Conrad to request a hearing on the CLASS Act, a long-term care program created as part of the president's health care law. … Continue Reading
10.05.11
Sessions, Snowe Unveil ‘Honest Budget Act’ To Strip Away Washington’s Most Outrageous Gimmicks
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, and U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, today announced the introduction of the Honest Budget Act, a nine-plank legislative package that targets Washington's most dishonest budget gimmicks and accounting tricks: "Washington relies on an astonishing array of dishonest budget gimmicks to enable and conceal countless billions in federa… Continue Reading
10.04.11
The Deficit Of Leadership: President’s Disappointing Speech Only Raises More Questions
Deficit ReductionThe president claimed deficit reduction of $1.2 trillion dollars over 10 years in his last budget. CBO said it would increase deficits by $2.7 trillion. Is the president's new claim based on the same discredited assumptions in his last budget? Non-Security SpendingThe president says he will now freeze non-security discretionary spending in 2012 at the 2011 level. He claims this will reduce deficits by $600 billion over 10 years. What programs will be cut? Will the president red… Continue Reading
10.04.11
The Spending Binge Continues: GAO Exposes Billions In Waste, Duplication
Today, GAO identified massive duplication, fragmentation, and other inefficiencies that cost taxpayers billions of dollars every year in waste and degraded service-all while President Obama's budget surges federal spending across the board and adds $13 trillion to the debt. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued its first annual report on government duplication today. The report identifies 34 broad areas of duplication as well as 47 additional areas of potential savings. In all, GAO … Continue Reading
10.04.11
CBO Confirms: Obama’s Budget Assumptions Were Detached From Reality
The budget that the Obama Administration presented to Congress on February 14th pushes our nation further down an unsustainable path: growing the government, weakening the economy, and increasing the burden of debt on each and every American. Now, the Congressional Budget Office has confirmed that the president's budget conceals an additional $2.3 trillion in deficits. In nearly every major area, CBO gave the president's plan a lower grade than the Administration gave itself. The Administrati… Continue Reading
10.04.11
Swift Action Needed On Spending Reduction As Experts Warn Of Rising Debt
"Bill Gross, who runs the world's biggest bond fund at Pacific Investment Management Co., eliminated government-related debt from his flagship fund last month as the U.S. projected record budget deficits." - Bloomberg, "Pimco's Gross Eliminates Government Debt From Total Return Fund," March 10, 2011 "We believe that if we do not take decisive action our nation faces the most predictable economic crisis in its history." - written testimony of Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, Budget Committee hea… Continue Reading
10.04.11
The $4 Trillion Gimmick: President’s ‘Framework’ To Reduce The Deficit By $4 Trillion Would Grow It $2.2 Trillion Beyond CBO Baseline
The American people deserve an honest, fact-based budget. Instead the president's deficit speech was the biggest gimmick yet. An analysis of the president's April 13 speech from the Republican staff of the Senate Budget Committee exposes the president's claim that he has a revised budget framework which will result in $4 trillion dollars in deficit reduction. The analysis reveals that the president's new framework is simply a rhetorically repackaged version of the budget he submitted on Februar… Continue Reading
10.04.11
Sessions Encourages Adoption Of Biennial Budget Reform
"I have long-supported [biennial budget] legislation and am eager to begin renewed work on this proposal… But the process reform will achieve little if we don't address the underlying problem: the ideology of big government. As long as Washington operates under the idea that the federal government is the first and best solution to all our problems, then our budget will always tend to be too large, too hard to manage, and place too heavy a burden on the economy." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff… Continue Reading
09.27.11
Sessions Addresses Debate Over Disaster Funding In CR
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding spending offsets for disaster funding in the continuing resolution now under consideration in the Senate: "Throughout this year we have seen a stark contrast: Republicans in Congress have tried to responsibly manage the federal budget by reducing those expenditures which are not necessary and by better paying for those which are. Democrats in Congress have res… Continue Reading
09.27.11
Sessions Comments On Stopgap Funding Measure
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding the consideration of a short-term continuing resolution: "The current debate over yet another stopgap funding measure should be understood in one fundamental context: Senate Democrats have shunned their basic governing responsibility. They failed to follow regular order, produce appropriations bills, or pass a budget in 875 days." ###… Continue Reading
09.27.11
Sessions Asks: What Did Sebelius Know About Health Program’s Unsustainable Cost?
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, joined a bicameral group of lawmakers in sending a letter to Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, about the CLASS Act, a long-term care program created as part of the president's healthcare bill. The letter calls on Sebelius to explain her agency's plan for the implementation of CLASS, and to answer questions about when she first became aware of internal HHS concerns… Continue Reading
09.22.11
By The Numbers: Phony Cuts And Bogus Savings In President's New Fiscal Plan
"I'm proposing real, serious cuts in spending… All told, this plan cuts $2 in spending for every dollar in new revenues." - President Obama unveiling his deficit plan, September 19, 2011 $1.4 trillion Actual deficit reduction through 10 years under the president's plan, less than half the amount promised Zero Percent of deficit reduction that comes from spending cuts $1.6 trillion Net tax increase over 10 years $146 billion Spending … Continue Reading
09.21.11
SBC Analysis Of The President’s Mid-Session Review: Despite Promises, Deficit Plan Still Missing
By law, the administration is required to provide by July 16 an update of the president's proposed budget for the coming fiscal year. The update, which has come to be known as the Mid-Session Review (MSR), must provide revised estimates of receipts, outlays, budget authority, and budget deficits, taking into account information such as newly enacted laws, changes in the economic outlook, and changes to the February budget that "the President decides are necessary and appropriate based on current… Continue Reading
09.21.11
SBC Analysis: President’s Deficit Plan Fails To Cut Spending By One Penny
Today, the president finally provided a fiscal plan on paper that reflects his latest vision for the country. Relative to the administration's current policy baseline, the president claims his plan would increase the fiscal year 2012 deficit by $300 billion but reduce deficits over the next 10 years by $3.2 trillion. However, this claim is overstated by $1.8 trillion because of three gimmicks: (1) taking credit for savings from a reduction in war spending that all parties agree will occur, (2) … Continue Reading
09.21.11
Timeline Of Washington Democrats’ “Leadership” On The Deficit
"It's irresponsible, it's wrong, it's a failure of leadership, it's absent without leave… Can you imagine the greatest threat to our country, dwarfs any other problem this nation has… and the president's not providing any leadership? The commander-in-chief is absent from battle." - Ranking Member Jeff Sessions, interview on FOX News January 25, 2011 - In his State of the Union address, President Obama proposes freezing "annual domestic spending for the next five years." This freez… Continue Reading
