Economy & Budget

Last week, the President sent Congress a budget request which does not reflect a strong commitment to the people of rural America. The President’s budget proposals would cut deep into programs important to the quality of life in rural communities, in areas such as health care, education, law enforcement, economic development, agriculture, Social Security, and funding for our nation’s veterans. Unfortunately, these proposals are nothing new.

The President continues to force working families and small businesses in rural America to make sacrifices, while at the same time he pushes for permanent tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy. Reducing our record deficits is a goal we all share, but it should not rest disproportionately on the backs of those living in rural areas. By forcing some to shoulder this national burden and not others, this budget reflects at best an unfair and misguided approach to our spending priorities and at worst a real neglect of rural America.

Last week, President Bush unveiled his budget priorities for 2008, which included a radical proposal to collapse over 20 separate Violence Against Women Act programs into one "consolidated competitive grant program." This program would force individual victim service organizations, police, prosecutors, judges, tribal governments and states to compete for funding from the federal government and would strip away critical, guaranteed funding to states through the Act's cornerstone provision - the STOP (Services, Training, Officers, Prosecutors) grant program.

Since its 1994 passing, VAWA has provided over $4 billion dollars to combat domestic violence and sexual assault nationwide. The Violence Against Women Act's programs range from policies to encourage the prosecution of abusers, to victims' services to prevention programs. Now, all of our work is in jeopardy.

Forcing state governments to compete for limited funding may leave life-saving victim programs without resources and may jeopardize judicial and law enforcement improvements that hold abusers accountable. Those on the front lines of this battle will have to fight for resources to continue their work. This is doubly true for many new programs created in the Violence Against Women Act of 2005 - such as a badly-needed sexual assault services program and a judicial program for teenage victims of domestic violence. Read more...

This is a very important fight, a fight we will continue. It is imperative we succeed so that our rural, timber dependent counties have the funding they have traditionally received from these county payments. It is vital to having schools open, sheriffs departments staffed and roads paved. We will keep this fight up until we win, it’s just that simple.

The President’s budget has again failed rural America.  It cuts deepest at programs that are vital to rural families.  We must ensure the funding is there to protect and promote programs for families in rural America. Failure to do so will threaten the very existence of our nation’s farming and rural communities.

There are a lot of reasons for concern about the billions of dollars we’re spending in Iraq reconstruction. Yesterday we heard from Ambassador Bremer and Special Inspector General Bowen about the fact that 8 to 20 billion dollars cash were sent to Iraq and there’s not a clear accounting for where that money went…it’s disturbing to me. Today we’re looking at the issue of contractors who subcontract and their subcontractors who subcontract again, and whether the subcontractor who actually does the work is providing what’s required under the contract, and also whether there’s any padding of the bill by one subcontractor putting in his overhead and another subcontractor and the general contractor adding their charges as well.

For the first time in three years, President Bush has initiated a proposed increase of 3.2 percent for the National Endowment for the Arts, which would bring it to a total of $128.4 million. The Administration’s request for an increase is its first since 2005, and therefore is a step in the right direction. Moreover, it comes in the wake of strong signals from both parties in Congress that a funding increase is needed.

Nevertheless, our government is significantly under-investing in the NEA, which used to receive much greater funding: in fact, in 1992, the NEA received $176 million, which spurred significant economic growth, artistic achievement, and accessibility to the nation’s cultural organizations across the nation.

Americans for the Arts urges Congress to return NEA funding to its former level as quickly as possible.

Another year, another disappointing and deceitful budget from President Bush. Again he’s using creative accounting to mask the damage his uncontrolled spending is doing to our deficit, our economy, and our nation’s security. Again, the President fails to account for the full costs of the war in Iraq. And again he’s shortchanging veterans, retirees, students, middle class families and the environment.

I am particularly upset that the budget again under-funds veterans... who are in particular need right now, due to the wars the President started. I voted against the Iraq war authorization in October 2002... but now that we’re there, we need to bring our troops home safely, and we need to take care of the men and women who have made huge sacrifices in the name of our country, some of whom are, sadly, seriously injured, physically and mentally. Read more...

Over the past three years, we have seen our economy reach unprecedented levels – the pro-growth tax policies have proven results, and Americans are now enjoying a burgeoning economy and more jobs. But we must continue to work to get our financial house in order.

As the President proposes, we should seek ways to reduce spending while avoiding ill-advised tax increases. We should bolster programs that work and address those that don’t. Eliminating the federal deficit demands that we look at mandatory spending and reform programs such as Medicare and Medicaid to make them more effective and efficient.

Our national budget should provide for our national security by supporting our men and women in uniform and also keep our promises to our veterans.

I look forward to working with my colleagues on the Budget Committee to ensure that we maintain fiscal responsibility as we meet the many challenges facing our nation today.

The President’s budget reflects his goals of continuing robust economic growth, protecting the nation from harm and spending wisely on domestic priorities. Restrained non-defense annual spending, a reduction in the growth of certain entitlement programs and strong revenues triggered by existing tax policies will combine to drive the deficit down and produce a surplus in 2012.

While the short-term budgetary outlook under the President’s budget is positive, there is still a looming threat on the horizon that must be addressed. With the massive Baby Boom generation ready to begin retiring in 2008, the cost of the big entitlement programs will skyrocket. Without Congressional action, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are poised to increase from 8.8 percent of the economy this year to 18 percent in 2030.

We cannot tax our way out of this problem, nor will economic growth alone alleviate the pressure these entitlement programs will place on our children and grandchildren’s resources. As we begin work on crafting a budget for 2008, I look forward to working with my colleagues and the President to find solutions to these critical fiscal issues.

Any time a President submits a budget proposal to Congress, there is going to be close scrutiny and even more so during a time of divided government -- and deservedly so.  Overall, it is important to understand the Administration's priorities and learn how federal agencies evaluate their programs' strengths and weaknesses.

In general, I obviously support the idea of moving towards a balanced budget and am hopeful the numbers with respect to deficit reduction are accurate; however, we would be remiss if we didn't take into account significant obstacles like record spending on entitlement programs due to the baby boom generation as well as a very difficult alternative minimum tax fix and the impact that will have on the overall goal.  Honest accounting must preclude politically motivated gimmicks. We must make some hard choices in order to ensure the solvency of our entitlement programs and maintain Americans' trust. Read more...