Hoyer: GOP's 2012 budget filled with 'disastrous priorities,' tax hikes needed

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) on Wednesday morning said the House Republican budget proposal for FY 2012 contains "disastrous priorities" that cut aid to middle-class Americans in order to spare the wealthy from taxes, and he said this plan would not reduce the deficit quickly enough.

"Republicans say we're too broke to afford the promise of Medicare, but we are flush enough to spend trillions in tax cuts for those of us who are the best off," Hoyer said on the House floor.

He added that the budget plan from House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) would not balance the budget for decades, which he said shows higher taxes on the wealthy are needed.

"The supply-side dogma that lower taxes mean higher revenues has proven false over the last three decades," he said.

Hoyer said Democrats are willing to cut spending, but they want to get there through a combination of raising taxes and cutting spending, a theme President Obama is expected to highlight in his Wednesday remarks on federal fiscal policy.

"These entitlements must be addressed," he said, noting Republican efforts to cut Medicare and Medicaid, "but we must address them in a way that both keeps them sustainable and makes them available for generations to come.

"Let's reform our entitlement programs with a scalpel, not an axe," he concluded. "Let's look for savings in every part of the budget, defense included. Let's close tax loopholes, but let's also use the tax code to reduce the deficit and ensure that all of us, even the most privileged, pay their fair share."