Economy & Budget

Open and transparent investment policies contribute toward greater economic growth through foreign investments. And, in this post-9/11 world, we must remain vigilant against any national security threat.  The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has a good record of serving both purposes, and this legislation reforming CFIUS will make it even more effective.  I appreciate the support of the Committee for my amendment.  This amendment makes the Secretary of Commerce the chair of CFIUS, as Congress originally intended  (currently, the CFIUS chair is the Secretary of the Treasury).  With Commerce in the chair, CFIUS will be better able to review impending foreign investments, better report its findings to Congress, and better maintain the U.S. market as the most vibrant and open in the world.

Earlier this week, the Bush Administration released updated deficit estimates for 2006, proving once again that Republican budget policies are out of touch with the economic realities facing hard-working Americans. President Bush and his Rubber Stamp Republican Congress have heaped mountains of debt onto the backs of our children and grandchildren, racking up a $296 billion budget deficit - the fourth largest deficit in history.

I'm confused as to why this sad piece of news sent the President and his friends in Congress to the streets, airwaves, and this blog to gloat. I guess when you have so little going right, you grab onto whatever you can. Furthermore, this is the third year in a row that the Administration's initial estimates were wildly inflated - the perfect setup to claim victory later in the year when the deficit "magically" shrinks.

Republicans are basically patting themselves on the back for deficits that they created. Their reckless tax breaks for million dollar estates and billion dollar corporations have been burying our children and grandchildren in debt for the past six years. Democrats don't find that cause for celebration.

They can spin the numbers however they want. But stagnant wages, low job creation, growing health care costs, and sky high gas prices do not make for a strong economy by any measure.

If you create low enough expectations, you might not do as badly as predicted.  It is just so indicative of how low they made these expectations that they can make themselves happy by doing badly instead of extremely badly.

They're crowing about what is the fourth largest deficit in American history.  By next year the interest rate on the debt will be growing at the fastest rate of any federal budget.  They're really grasping if they say this is something to crow about, and I think that the majority that produced this will eat crow.

The deficit numbers that came out of OMB yesterday are certainly a great start. An unprecedented 30% percent reduction is proof that Republicans were right with our pro-growth tax relief since 2003, and we are right today when we say the best way to grow this economy is to put the money back in the hands of American workers. Republican tax policy is keeping this economy moving forward and we will continue in that direction by working to control spending and continuing to lower the tax burden on Americans. In fact, if we want to really expand this economy and unleash our economic potential, we need to pass my FairTax legislation and completely remove the tax burden, not only on the worker but on our companies as well. Then we will see this economy grow faster than it ever has and the news yesterday will look like small potatoes.

Today’s announcement is great news for America.  Thanks to cutting taxes and reigning in wasteful spending, our economy is booming while the deficit is quickly shrinking.

These common sense policies have resulted in the creation of more than 5.4 million jobs since 2003 and a projected year end budget deficit as much as 30 percent less than originally expected.  This is just more proof that American workers and families, not big government, are the best stewards of our taxpayer dollars.

The Office of Management and Budget's announcement that the deficit is now projected to be $127 billion less than projected just six months ago is a great relief for the American taxpayers.  I have fought in Congress to reduce the tax burdens on families and small businesses, grow our economy and allow the American people to keep more of their hard-earned money.  This latest news confirms that the sound economic policies of this Republican Congress are working.

As tax revenues are expected grow by $245 billion we will be back on track to cut the deficit in half by 2008, a year ahead of the president's schedule.  This is a great accomplishment of Congress and a great benefit for American tax payers.

The new budget estimates show that the tax cuts are working and gives us even more rationale for making them permanent.  Despite this good news though, Congress needs to really look to curb spending. It’s much better to let the American people rather than those of us in Washington, DC spend their own money.

Today's report was a factual validation of what we have been saying all along: When the American people keep more of their own money, they grow the economy, and when the economy grows, tax revenues increase. We've heard a lot of talk from people who seem to think that the only way to cut the deficit is to raise taxes; this report unequivocally proves them wrong.

Lowering taxes has fueled sustained economic growth and job growth that ultimately bring more tax dollars into the Treasury, which helps us reduce the deficit.  At the same time, we need to restrain spending, and we're working hard to do this through budget reforms such as my legislative line-item veto and overall efforts to control spending.

Today's announcement of lower deficit projections shows that tax relief paired with spending controls can put our fiscal house in order and eliminate the deficit.