Op-Eds
By: Sen. John Thune, Sen. Jeff Sessions, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, and Rep. Paul Ryan
“The sequestration process was passed last August as part of the Budget Control Act, a last-resort measure to avert a fiscal crisis due in part to the Senate’s failure to pass a budget. Though defense spending makes up less than 20 percent of our budget, 50 percent of the cuts required under the act fall on programs and personnel charged with providing for our nation’s defense…Despite this looming crisis, President Barack Obama and his administration have so far refused to level with the American people about the full impact of these defense cuts… Given the seriousness of the situation, the Senate should immediately join the House in calling on the president to enter the discussion; release a plan detailing the effects of sequestration, and begin a debate with Congress on the need to replace this sequester with deficit reduction through sensible reforms — not arbitrary cuts.”
By: Sen. Jeff Sessions
By refusing to do a budget for three straight years - during a time of financial danger - the Senate’s Democratic majority has proved itself unworthy to lead.By: Sen. Jeff Sessions & Rep. Paul Ryan
“Under [the president’s] plan, the government is projected to borrow $11.2 trillion over the next 10 years. This is roughly the same amount of debt we are expected to incur under realistic projections of current policy. The budget does not change our debt trajectory. Instead, the president has used a series of gimmicks to create the illusion of fiscal responsibility…“We see serious danger in shrugging off the president’s dereliction of duty — a danger compounded by Democratic leaders in the U.S. Senate, who have refused to offer any budget at all for more than 1,000 days. The unsustainable growth of government spending is pushing the nation ever closer to a debt-fueled economic crisis… The good news, of course, is that citizens are noticing, and they will have the final say. The American people demand leaders who take seriously their legal and moral obligations to put forward credible budget plans.”
By: Sen. Jeff Sessions
If the president wants, as he says, to be a "warrior for the middle class," then he must finally draw up the courage to deliver a long-term budget plan that tackles our debt, restores confidence and unburdens the private sector. Otherwise, the government will continue to grow and the middle class will continue to shrink.By: Sen. Jeff Sessions & Rep. Paul Ryan
Senate Democrats abandoned their official duty to prioritize Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars and tackle our nation’s most pressing economic challenges—dealing a painful blow to fiscal progress that may be felt for some time.Oct 21 2011
An End to Budgetary Trickery
When is money it spends considered money saved? When Congress says so.
By: Sen. Olympia J. Snowe and Sen. Jeff Sessions
Washington today relies on budget gimmicks to enable and conceal countless billions in federal deficit spending… That is why we have introduced the Honest Budget Act. It will strip away many of the most blatant and dishonest gimmicks—making it harder to spend money we don’t have, and helping to confront the larger culture of fiscal corruption that is bankrupting the country and eroding public confidence in government.By: Sen. Jeff Sessions and Rep. Paul Ryan
Our nation’s total debt is now larger than our entire economy. Unemployment is painfully high and growth is painfully slow... But Senate Democrats, during this time of national crisis, failed even to present a budget plan — in open defiance of the law and the public they serve.By: Sen. Jeff Sessions
The recently announced debt-limit deal is far from perfect. However, it will reduce spending and does represent a step forward. No such progress would have been possible but for the Americans who rose up in the last election and kicked so many big spenders out of office.But in order to restore fiscal discipline in Washington, balance our budget and free this country from a growing mountain of debt, much more work is needed - work that will require the vigorous participation of the entire Senate and the public we serve.
By: Sen. Jeff Sessions
Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned that the greatest threat facing our nation is our debt. To get out of this crisis we will need a serious, responsible budget that cuts back on bloated federal spending, which now controls nearly 25% of our entire economy.Two months ago, the president submitted his formal budget to Congress as required by law. It was a plan that would raise taxes $1.7 trillion while doubling our nation's gross debt in 10 years and producing annual deficits that never once fall below $748 billion. It is the most irresponsible spending plan any president has ever put forward.
By: Sen. Jeff Sessions
Last Friday, the Congressional Budget Office scored President Obama’s ten-year budget plan. Their findings underscore a painful truth: The president is failing to engage in the kind of honest dialogue necessary to rally the country behind needed action.His budget — widely criticized for growing our gross debt by $13 trillion, swelling our bloated bureaucracy, and ignoring our surging entitlements — is so filled with gimmicks and manipulations that the CBO found an additional $2.3 trillion in deficits beyond what the White House projected.