Shuster Statement on President’s FY2012 Budget

Congressman Bill Shuster released the following statement on the President’s FY 2012 budget proposal:

“If you believed the President in his State of the Union Address when he talked about his commitment to ending unsustainable spending, you would think he presented the wrong budget to Congress today. Here we sit $14 trillion in debt with our heads underwater and the President proposes more spending, more borrowing and more taxes on a recovering economy.

You don’t throw an anchor to a drowning man. You don’t create jobs, grow an economy and reduce debt by spending more than you can afford. At no point in the President’s 10 year budget proposal will the government spend less than it will take in. The national debt under the Obama budget will increase by $7.2 trillion, with 40 cents of each indebted dollar paid to foreign creditors like China.

The American people made their voices heard in November. They want to stop the runaway spending binge President Obama and the Democrats started. I look forward to working with my Republican colleagues in working to present our own budget that will cut spending, burdensome regulations and taxes to put the economy back onto the path of growth and opportunity.”

Shuster's Statement on President Obama's FY2011 Budget

“Just last week in his State of the Union address, President Obama stressed the need to recapture the spirit of fiscal responsibility in Washington. He reaffirmed this in his remarks to House Republicans on Friday. Unfortunately, the President’s budget falls short of the mark and fails to put his rhetoric into action.

Instead of producing a budget outline that cuts spending and reigns in the growth of government, the President’s proposal spends more than any budget in history, creates the largest deficits in our history and would require an equally large increase in taxes to pay for it all. This is not the approach we need in a time of soaring deficits, double digit unemployment and an uncertain economy.

I do look forward to working with the President to find ways we can get spending under control, but this budget is not the right way to start. Freezing spending next year, while spending $3.83 trillion now will not put our fiscal house in order. I will continue to work with my Republican colleagues in Congress on a responsible budget alternative that will address our economic situation in a commonsense manner.”

A look at the projected budget deficit

The Heritage Foundation has a breakdown of the federal budget deficit during the Bush administration and the Obama administration.

Then and now on a budgetary spending freeze

As we prepare for tomorrow’s State of the Union Speech, it is interesting to point out that during the campaign, President Obama took great lengths to express his opposition to an across the board spending freeze. He likened a freeze to using a hatchet while he wanted to take a scalpel to the federal budget.

During his first year in office, President Obama increased non-defense discretionary spending by 20% - the largest one year increase in over three decades. This is important because when he introduced his first budget a year ago, he promised to decrease discretionary spending.

Tomorrow night, we’ll see exactly how small a scalpel the president wants to use against the budget.

Shuster Supports Republican Efforts to Find $375 Billion Savings for Taxpayers

Congressman Shuster released the following statement in support of the goal of House Republican leaders to find $375 billion in commonsense savings to American taxpayers:

“The rapid pace of federal spending we are experiencing cannot be sustained if we are to lay the groundwork for America’s long term prosperity. We cannot continue to spend money that even President Obama says we don’t have. The President challenged House Republicans to find savings in his budget and Republican leaders have risen to the challenge. I support the goals of our Republican leadership as we look for ways to make government more accountable and efficient for all Americans.”

The Republican 
proposal follows a meeting at the White House on April 24, during which Republican Whip Cantor brought up the President’s request to Cabinet secretaries to find $100 million in savings, noting that much more could be done on behalf of taxpayers. In response, President Obama asked House Republicans to develop of list of areas where the federal government could save more money. 



NOTE: A copy of the House Republican savings proposal to President Obama is available here; the text of the letter to the President follows: 



President Barack Obama 


The White House 


Washington, DC 20500 



Dear Mr. President, 



Per our last bipartisan leadership meeting on April 23rd, enclosed please find a list of proposals that we believe could generate significant savings for American taxpayers. 



As we have expressed to you, we are greatly troubled by the spending and deficit levels adopted in the recent budget. We believe this level of spending and borrowing is not only unsustainable, but unfair towards hard-working American families who will see increased mortgage costs as a result of our reckless borrowing and to future generations who will be required to pay for this profligate spending. 



In testimony before the House Budget Committee yesterday, Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke raised similar concerns stating, “Unless we demonstrate a strong commitment to fiscal sustainability in the longer term, we will have neither financial stability nor healthy economic growth." 



Of course, reducing spending is never easy. In 2005 when Congressional Republicans enacted the Deficit Reduction Act, which saved taxpayers $40 billion over five years, not one single Democrat in the House or Senate supported the bill. The proposed terminations and reductions your Administration released last month garnered immediate opposition from many Democrats. Likewise, the proposals we have put forward here will not be supported by all Republicans. However, if we work together, we are confident that we can come up with a common-sense package of entitlement reforms, program terminations, and spending reductions that will generate significant savings for the American taxpayer and reduce our current deficit. For example, enactment of the proposals we have outlined in the enclosed document could save taxpayers in excess of $375 billion. 



We will continue to work with our Members to identify other potential areas for savings. We firmly believe that given the gravity of the current fiscal situation both parties must dedicate themselves to a sustained program to root out wasteful and unnecessary spending and reforming entitlement programs. 
We look forward to working with you in this endeavor.

Sincerely,

John Boehner Republican Leader

Eric Cantor 
 Republican Whip 
 


Obama Says U.S. Long-Term Debt Load ‘Unsustainable’

Bloomberg Online: Obama Says U.S. long-Term Debt Load 'Unsustainable'

President Obama finally acknowledges that we can’t tax, spend, and borrow our way back to prosperity:

“We can’t keep on just borrowing from China,” Obama said at a town-hall meeting in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, outside Albuquerque. “We have to pay interest on that debt, and that means we are mortgaging our children’s future with more and more debt.”

Posted by: Press Secretary

Tax increases could kill the economy

The Wall Street Journal Opinion: Tax increases could kill the economy

Great op-ed from the Wall Street Journal detailing why tax increases proposed by President Obama could kill our chances of ending the recession:

The current outlook for an economic recovery remains precarious. Although the stimulus package will give a temporary boost to growth in the current quarter, it will not be enough to offset the combined effect of lower consumer spending, the decline in residential construction, the weakness of exports, the limited availability of bank credit and the downward spiral of house prices. A sustained economic upturn is far from a sure thing. This is no time for tax increases that will reduce spending by households and businesses.

Posted by: Press Secretary

Obama's budget so large, it's hard to actually put it into words

The Washington Examiner: Obama’s dangerous budget leaves GOP at loss for words

"Republicans are facing that obstacle as they try to explain the dimensions of Obama’s spending plan. The GOP pollster told me he tries to explain it by asking people to think of a dollar as a second — one dollar, one brief tick of your watch. A million seconds, the pollster explained, equals eleven days. A billion seconds equals 31 years. And a trillion seconds equals 310 centuries."

Posted by: Press Secretary

House GOP Leader Boehner: SOS - Save our Savings

SOS: Save Our Savings

John Boehner

April 30, 2009

You don't have to look far to find someone impacted by this recession - whether it's the loss of a job, a reduction in workplace benefits or the evaporation of their retirement, college and personal savings. It could be your neighbor. It could be a family member. It could be you.

All across our country, millions of families and small businesses are struggling to make ends meet during this downturn, and they're looking to our leaders for real solutions to help turn around this situation. They don't care if they're Democratic solutions or Republican solutions. They just want the men and women representing them in office to focus like a laser on getting our economy back on track, helping create more jobs and working together to help rebuild their savings.

Last week, my House Republican colleagues and I offered our latest in a series of solutions on the economy, following the proposals we have offered this year to create twice as many jobs as the Democrats' stimulus spending bill at half the cost, encourage Americans to begin buying homes again, and return some fiscal sanity to the federal budget. Our plan, known as the Savings Recovery Act, has one simple but essential goal: helping Americans rebuild their retirement, college and personal savings accounts, which have been depleted by this recession in ways that few ever could have imagined.

Unfortunately, within hours of our bill's introduction, President Obama opened a Pandora's box that has captured Washington's attention ever since: He signaled his openness to prosecuting those who approved the advanced interrogation techniques even though his own director of national intelligence has acknowledged those techniques yielded high-value intelligence in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The administration and its Democratic allies in Congress have been consumed by the matter ever since.

By shifting their attention away from the economy and focusing instead on their self-made political theater, the administration and Democrats in Congress are missing a golden opportunity to work with Republicans in a bipartisan way on real solutions to get our economy back on track - the same kind of cooperation every American expects and demands of us.

At kitchen tables across America, families are wondering how to stop the hemorrhaging of their savings and begin rebuilding their nest eggs. In fact, a recent National Public Radio poll confirmed that the loss of savings is the American people's top concern during this recession. To provide them the solutions they need to restore their savings, our legislation makes it easier for Americans to save more for their retirement by allowing individuals and families to contribute more to their retirement accounts.

It helps restore 529 college savings plans by reducing the cost of a family's contributions to the plan by nearly half. Our proposal allows more Americans to increase their income without being hit by the Social Security earnings penalty. It suspends the capital gains tax on newly acquired assets for two years and suspends dividend taxes through 2011 to encourage greater investment. It also preserves employee-controlled 401(k)s by blocking efforts to wipe out these savings plans and replace them with government-run accounts.

Last week, in a White House meeting with Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress, the president and everyone else at the table renewed their commitment to work together and help Americans overcome the very real challenges before them. Cooperating on a plan to help Americans address their top concern - how to rebuild their savings - is an ideal place to start. To do that, Washington Democrats need to stop playing politics with our intelligence community and return their focus to the economic crisis dominating the lives of middle-class families from coast to coast.

John A. Boehner of Ohio is the Republican leader in the House of Representatives.

Debt Day is no reason to celebrate

The following op-ed by Congressman Shuster in Debt Day is currently working its way through the 9th district's newspapers. Keep an eye out for it in your local editorial page:

Debt Day is no Reason to Celebrate

Congressman Bill Shuster

This past Sunday was Debt Day.

Debt Day marks the day when the government starts paying for federal spending by borrowing money rather than using revenue generated by your tax dollars. This means that all of the money spent in Washington from this day forward will either be borrowed from other countries like China, or borrowed from your children and grandchildren.

Families and small businesses in the 9^th district and across the country are cutting back on expenses and reshuffling their priorities in an uncertain market. As retirement accounts dwindle and economic uncertainty continues, many across our nation are looking to the government for steady leadership during this difficult time.

Unfortunately, instead of supplying real solutions to the problems we face, President Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress have responded to the call with unprecedented levels of debt, spending, and government interference in our economy. The stimulus package I opposed in February increased the debt by $1 trillion, even though the Republican alternative would have provided twice as many jobs at half the cost.

Most recently, the President proposed a budget that will dramatically increase the amount of debt in America. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the President’s budget will produce $9.3 trillion in deficits over the next ten years. The national debt will double in eight years, and by 2012, the American people will be paying $1 billion per day in net interest. Even some of my Democrat colleagues have declared that the policies are unsustainable.

Sadly, the total debt incurred by the nation as a result of Congress and the Administration will cripple America’s future. Debt per capita is currently about $35,000 and in just eight years it will be $70,000. Our children and grandchildren will be forced to bear an unprecedented burden as a result of the Democrats’ policies. Doubling the debt is no solution to our economic challenges.

The American people know we can’t borrow and spend our way back to prosperity. President Obama announced last week that he is calling on his Cabinet to cut $100 million from his $3.5 trillion budget. That is a drop in the bucket. $100 million is equivalent to a paltry .003 percent of the President’s total budget. Taxpayers deserve better.

The path to our economic recovery starts with real fiscal responsibility in Washington. I, along with my House Republican colleagues believe that the federal government should follow the example set by our nation’s families – tighten the budget, eliminate wasteful spending and give Americans more control over their finances by getting government off of their backs. The future of America depends on it.

We've seen a trillion - now what does $100 million look like?

We've already seen what a trillion dollars looks like. Now what does $100 million look like when compared to the record level of spending coming out of Washington? The Heritage Foundation put it into pictures and it looks like this:

The President and the Congress can do better than this. The American people demand it.

Posted by: Press Secretary

A drop in the bucket

President Obama's decision today to give his Cabinet secretaries 90 days to cut $100 million in federal spending rings hollow if you look at it in context. The Associated Press does a good job here to put the $100 he wants to save into a quick frame of reference.

Some of the Associated Press' examples of just what $100 million amounts to include the cost of less than half of one F-22 Raptor fighter jet and 1/10,000th of the government's operating budgets for Cabinet agencies.

The also AP points out Republican objections that the government will spend nearly $100 million a day for the next decade or so just to cover the borrowing costs of the recent trillion dollar stimulus bill President Obama forced through Congress.

It's telling that even the President himself is quoted in the article as saying this cost cutting won't accomplish anything:

"None of these things alone are going to make a difference, but cumulatively, they would make an extraordinary difference because they start setting a tone," the President said.

More information on this as it develops.

Posted by: Press Secretary

Leader Boehner: Democrats' budget is the "Bernie Madoff" budget

House GOP Leader: “The fact is that if you look at this budget, it spends too much, it taxes too much and it puts too much debt on the backs of our kids and grandkids”

Click here to watch

Posted by: Press Secretary

Shuster's statement on the Democrats' Reckless Budget

“In times of economic stress, families throughout the 9th district do what families do everywhere. They look for ways to save money, cut expenses and do more with less. We should expect nothing less from our government. The Democrats in control of Congress aren’t listening. Their budget taxes, spends, and borrows too much and in the process, mortgages our children’s futures for a growing activist government.

The Democrats’ budget will spend $4 trillion this year alone and triple our debt in ten years. Every American household will be burdened with $46,533 of debt that our grandchildren will shoulder. To pay for it all, the Democrats’ budget contains $1.5 trillion in tax increases that will leave no American family untouched. This includes a national energy tax that will cost the average Pennsylvania family an additional $3,100 a year just to turn the lights on in their home.

I am proud to have supported the Republican alternative that offered a new way forward for America instead of continued reckless spending and creeping government control of our economy.

The Republican budget embraces the principles that made America great; personal liberty, economic freedom and entrepreneurship. It would freeze spending, produce a deficit $3.6 trillion lower than the Democrat’s budget and cut taxes.”

*UPDATED* Shuster on Fox Business

Today, Congressman Shuster appeared on Fox Business to talk about the Democrats' budget and the Republican budget alternative.

Transcript:

Cheryl Casone: I want to bring in congressman Bill Shuster from Pennsylvania. Hope you heard the report out of D.C. but first your comment on the budget battle that's happening in D.C. Today.

Shuster: This budget the President has proposed that Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have embraced just taxes too much, it spends too much and it borrows too much. We've got to get to reality here. The way out of this recession we're in is not by run away spending. History bears that out. In the '60s president Kennedy cut taxes and got out of a recession. In the '80s, President Reagan. And in the early 2000's, George Bush.

Tom Sullivan: I don't know there's much of a battle going on unless you can get some people with d's behind their names to join you. Are you getting anybody?

Shuster: I don't believe anybody that I've heard of or very few. The Blue Dogs who while we were in the majority would stand up on the House floor night after night talking about being fiscally responsible and yet most of those Blue Dogs are gonna vote for this run away spending budget that's going to add trillions to our grand children's futures that they have to pay back.

Cheryl Casone: This is kind of politics as usual it seems. If the budget does go forward as is to the president's desk, what is the next thing that we can do. Maybe to find bipartisanship in washington?

Shuster: I think we've gone to the president. We've talked to the Democratic leadership. They wanna increase government spending. They have a thirst for government spending. They believe, their principles of their party, i believe and they believe is that Washington, the federal government can do better. Huge increases in education. There's nobody in America that doesn't support funding education but it shouldn't be done at the federal level. It should be done back home in the local school districts and state government. That's where we should increase and find the money to spend on education, not in washington. Because we are going to get a one-size fits all solution and it's going to be what's good for Pennsylvania is good for Idaho and what's good for Vermont and that's not the case. That's what happens when you have all this spending and it's being directed here in

Gregg Jarett: Congressman, you Republicans were ripped by the Democrats because you didn't come up with an alternative budget. Now that you have and Democrats likely haven't even read it they're ripping you for what's in it. How frustrating is it to be a Republican on Capitol Hill during this budget process or for that matter any legislation?

Shuster: It is frustrating. They have the votes. At the make the schedule, determine what the rules are and what the agenda is. You're right, they are ripping us but we've come forward over every major issue in the last two years. Our budget spends less money, makes the tax cuts we passed into law in 2001 and 2003. It makes them permanent. I think that's what the American people want. They want to get federal government responsible and making sure they keep more of their hard-earn dollars and not send us down a rat hole in many cases. It expires in another year.

Posted by: Press Secretary

Flipping on your lights will cost you $3,100 a year

The GOP Leader blog has an interesting post on the true costs of President Obama and the congressional Democrats' cap-and-trade energy tax which is part of their FY2010 budget.

Bottom line? It will cost your family $3,100 extra in taxes every year to turn on your lights, drive your car and buy American products. How did Leader Boehner get the $3,100 figure?

"It’s pretty simple. We took MIT’s own estimate of a key “cap-and-trade” bill from the 110th Congress (S. 309) cosponsored by then-Senator Obama that said S. 309 would generate $366 billion in revenues in 2015. S. 309’s emissions targets track the emissions targets outlined in Obama’s budget, which the Congressional Research Service has confirmed. We took MIT’s own number – $366 billion – and divided that by the number of U.S. households (we assumed 300 million people and an average household size of 2.56 people…which is 117 million households). Using this formula, you get roughly $3,000 per household ($3,128 using current Census figures, a little less if you use projected Census figures from 2015). Now, this doesn’t even account for costs resulting from higher prices for food and all other products that will cost more to produce under their program."

Posted by: Press Secretary

Budget Fact #15

The Democrats April Fools' Day Budget Jokes

The Jokes And Facts About The Democrats' Budget:

The Democrats Are "As Serious As A Heart Attack" About Fiscal Restraint: APRIL FOOLS – Unfortunately, the Democrats' budget adds $9.3 trillion to the national debt. This would lead to unprecedented borrowing, with debt held by the public increasing from 41% of GDP in 2008 to 82% of GDP in 2019.

The Democrats' Budget Will Halve The Deficit: APRIL FOOLS – The Democrats' say their budget will halve the deficit in four years. Yet, the Democrats don't give the rest of the story. According to both the CBO and OMB, the budget deficit will increase every year after the Democrats claim they have halved the deficit. Claiming to cut the deficit in half is a useful talking point but it covers up for the fact that by 2013 the budget deficit is increasing each year. This will continue through 2019.

The Democrats' Budget Is "Honest" And "Transparent": APRIL FOOLS – According to The Washington Post, Congressional Democrats are resorting to "gimmickry" in an attempt to make the budget "look better on paper." However, this "does nothing to improve a dangerous fiscal picture" under the Democrats' budget which CBO estimates could lead to as much as $9.3 trillion in new debt over the next ten years. The USA Today also wrote about the Democrats' "underwhelming display of short-term tinkering to whittle down the cost" of the budget. Despite the calls for an "honest" budget, the Democrats have produced a budget that now looks better on paper only.

The Democrats' Budget Gives 95% Of Americans A Tax Cut: APRIL FOOLS – As passed in the stimulus bill, that tax cut for 95% of Americans only amounts to nearly $13 a week for an average family. Now, the Democrats' budget will end this tax credit in two years. At the same time that they are ending their tax credit, the Democrats' budget institutes tax hikes on energy, small businesses, housing and charitable giving.

The Democrats' Budget Is Not Tax-And-Spend: APRIL FOOLS – The Democrats' budget will raise taxes by $1.4 trillion over the next ten years.

The Democrats' Budget Will Not Tax All Americans: APRIL FOOLS – The cap-and-trade proposal in the Democrats' budget will lead to higher energy prices and a tax for every American who uses energy. The Democrats' cap-and-trade proposal represents a new national climate tax that will cost every household up to $3,128 annually in higher costs for natural gas, electricity, home heating oil and gasoline. This comes as no surprise as President Obama warned that his proposal would cause electricity prices to "necessarily skyrocket."

The Democrats' Budget Will Help Small Businesses: APRIL FOOLS – The Democrats' budget includes a proposal to raise income taxes. Because most small businesses do not pay corporate income taxes, and instead pay taxes on small business income on their individual returns, small businesses will be particularly hard hit by this tax increase. According to the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, 50.3% of all filers in the top bracket earn at least 25% of their income from business activities.

The Democrats' Budget Will Not Bring Back The Death Tax: APRIL FOOLS – The estate tax, scheduled to be repealed next year, would be continued under the Democrats' budget. The Democrats' budget would set the death tax rate at 45%, combined with an exclusion of $3.5 million.

The Democrats' Budget Is Based Upon Sound Economic Assumptions: APRIL FOOLS –The Democrats' budget is based upon rosy economic assumptions. The Democrats estimate that the economy will shrink by 1.2% this year and grow by 3.2% in 2010. The Blue Chip Economic projections forecast the economy will contract by 1.9% this year and grow by only 2.1% in 2010. Democrats are using unrealistic economic assumptions to justify their tax and spend agenda.

The Democrats' Budget Makes The Hard Choices: APRIL FOOLS – In light of a budget that spends, taxes and borrows too much, the Democrats will only promise future "adjustments" to the budget. Additionally, rather than setting aside funding for new spending initiatives, the House Democrats’ budget establishes 17 deficit neutral reserve funds, twelve of which would permit unlimited amounts of new spending and taxes.

The Democrats' Budget Will Lead To Trillions In Savings: APRIL FOOLS – The Democrats' budget relies on reducing operations in Iraq from unrealistically high forecasts to provide them with much of their supposed "savings." Also, as part of their original "savings" estimate, the Democrats counted tax increases. Most Americans would not consider tax increases to be budget savings.

Posted by: Press Secretary

Wall Street Journal: The GOP's Alternative Budget

President Obama offers us the option of European big government.

By PAUL D. RYAN

Today, the House of Representatives will consider two budget plans that represent dramatically different visions for our nation's future.

We will first consider President Barack Obama's plan. To be clear, this is no ordinary budget. In a nutshell, the president and Democratic leaders in Congress are attempting to bring about the third and final great wave of progressivism, building on top of the New Deal and the Great Society. So America is placed in a special moment in our history -- brought about by the deep recession, Mr. Obama's ambitious agenda, and the pending fiscal tidal-wave of red ink brought forward by the looming insolvency of our entitlement programs. If this agenda comes to pass, it will mark this period in history as the moment America turned European.

House Republicans will offer an alternative plan. This too is no ordinary budget. As the opposition party, we believe this moment must be met by offering the American people a different way forward -- one based on our belief that America is an exceptional nation, and we want to keep it that way. Our budget applies our country's enduring first principles to the problems of our day. Rather than attempting to equalize the results of peoples' lives and micromanaging their affairs, we seek to preserve our system of protecting our natural rights and equalizing opportunity for all. The plan works to accomplish four main goals: 1) fulfill the mission of health and retirement security; 2) control our nation's debts; 3) put the economy on a path of growth and leadership in the global economy; and 4) preserve the American legacy of leaving the next generation better off.

Under the president's plan, spending will top $4 trillion this year alone, and consume 28.5% of our nation's economy. His plan would mean a $1 trillion increase to the already unsustainable spending growth of our nation's entitlement programs -- including a "down payment" toward government-controlled health care and education; a $1.5 trillion tax increase to further shackle the small businesses and investors we rely on to create jobs; a massive increase in energy costs for families via cap and trade. Moreover, the Obama plan would result in an exploding deficit, a doubling of the nation's debt in five years, and an increase of that debt to more than 82% of our nation's GDP by the last year of the budget. This approach will ultimately debase our currency and reduce the living standards of the American people.

Instead of doubling the debt in five years, and tripling it in 10, the Republican budget curbs the explosion in spending called for by the president and his party. Our plan halts the borrow-and-spend philosophy that brought about today's economic problems, and puts a stop to heaping ever-growing debt on future generations -- and it does so by controlling spending, not by raising taxes. The greatest difference lies in the size of government our budgets achieve over time (see nearby chart).

While our approach ensures a sturdy safety net for those facing chronic or temporary difficulties, it understands that the reliability of this protection and the other functions of government depend on a vibrant, free and growing private sector to generate the resources necessary for it.

Here's an outline of what we propose:

- Deficits/Debt. The Republican budget achieves lower deficits than the Democratic plan in every year, and by 2019 yields half the deficit proposed by the president. By doing so, we control government debt: Under our plan, debt held by the public is $3.6 trillion less during the budget period.

- Spending. Our budget gives priority to national defense and veterans' health care. We freeze all other discretionary spending for five years, allowing it to grow modestly after that. We also place all spending under a statutory spending cap backed up by tough budget enforcement.

- Energy. Our budget lays a firm foundation to position the U.S. to meet three important strategic energy goals: reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil, deploying more clean and renewable energy sources free of greenhouse gas, and supporting economic growth. We do these things by rejecting the president's cap-and-trade scheme, by opening exploration on our nation's oil and gas fields, and by investing the proceeds in a new clean energy trust fund, infrastructure and further deficit reduction.

- Entitlements. Our budget also takes steps toward fulfilling the mission of health and retirement security, in part by making these programs fiscally sustainable. The budget moves toward making quality health care affordable and accessible to all Americans by strengthening the relationship between patients and their doctors, not the dictates of government bureaucrats. We preserve the existing Medicare program for all those 55 or older; and then, to make the program sustainable and dependable, those 54 and younger will enter a Medicare program reformed to work like the health plan members of Congress and federal employees now enjoy. Starting in 2021, seniors would receive a premium support payment equal to 100% of the Medicare benefit on average. This would be income related, so low-income seniors receive extra support, and high-income seniors receive support relative to their incomes -- along the same lines as the president's Medicare Part D proposal.

We strengthen the Medicaid safety net by converting the federal share of Medicaid payments into an allotment tailored for each state's low-income population. This will enhance state flexibility and sensitivity to spending growth.

In one of the most valued government programs -- Social Security -- our budget begins to develop a bipartisan solution to the program's pending bankruptcy by incorporating some of the reforms advocated by the president's budget director. Specifically, we provide for a trigger that would make small adjustments in the benefits for higher-income beneficiaries if the Social Security Administration determines the Social Security Trust Fund cannot meet its obligations. This is a modest but serious proposal which would not affect those in or near retirement, but is aimed at helping develop a consensus, across party lines, toward saving this important retirement program. We also assure that benefits for lower-income recipients are large enough to keep them out of poverty.

- Tax Reform. Our budget does not raise taxes, and makes permanent the 2001 and 2003 tax laws. In fact, we cut taxes and reform the tax system. Individuals can choose to pay their federal taxes under the existing code, or move to a highly simplified system that fits on a post card, with few deductions and two rates. Specifically, couples pay 10% on their first $100,000 in income (singles on $50,000) and 25% above that. Capital gains and dividends are taxed at 15%, and the death tax is repealed. The proposal includes generous standard and personal exemptions such that a family of four earning $39,000 would not pay tax on that amount. In an effort to revive peoples' lost savings, and to create an incentive for risk-taking and investment, the budget repeals the capital gains tax through 2010 for all taxpayers.

On the business side, the budget permanently cuts the uncompetitive corporate income tax rate -- currently the second highest in the industrialized world -- to 25%. This puts American companies in a better position to lead in the global economy, promotes jobs here at home, and strengthens worker paychecks.

We hope the administration and Democratic leaders in Congress do not distort and preach fear about our Republican plan. Some may be tempted to appeal to the darker emotions of envy and insecurity that surely run high in times like these. Yet we know Americans are stronger, smarter and prouder than this ploy assumes.

In the recent past, the Republican Party failed to offer the nation an inspiring vision and a concrete plan to tackle our problems with innovative and principled solutions. We do not intend to repeat that mistake. America is not the greatest nation on earth by chance. We earned this greatness by rewarding individual achievement, by advancing and protecting natural rights, and by embracing freedom. We intend to continue this uniquely American tradition.

Mr. Ryan, from Wisconsin, is the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee.

The Republican budget alternative: Higher on jobs

The Republican Budget Alternative:

Lower on spending, Lower on deficits, Lower on taxes, Lower on debt and Higher on jobs.

Posted by: Press Secretary

Budget Fact #13

Fall Promises, Spring Budgets

Talk Of Fiscal Restraint Turns Into $8.8 Trillion In Debt: In the fall, the Democrats promised to take a scalpel to the federal budget and go "line by line" to enforce fiscal discipline. Yet, the Democrats' budget, along with the House version to be voted on this week, do little to nothing to curb wasteful spending. Indeed, instead of going line by line to cut spending, the Democrats went line by line to hide spending. In the end, the Democrats have crafted a budget in the House that adds $8.8 trillion to the national debt and raises taxes by $1.2 trillion.

Talk Of Making The Hard Choices Turns Into Choices Deferred Until Later: In the fall, the Democrats promised that they would make the hard budget choices to restrain spending. Yet in light of a budget that spends, taxes and borrows too much, the Democrats will only promise future "adjustments" to the budget.

Talk Of Tax Cuts For 95% Of Americans Turns Into Tax Increases For All Americans: In the fall and during the stimulus debate, Democrats promised a tax cut for 95% of Americans. However, as passed in the stimulus, that tax cut amounts to nearly $13 a week for an average family. Now, the Democrats' budge twill end this tax credit in two years. At the same time that they are ending their tax credit, the Democrats' budget institutes tax hikes on energy, small businesses, housing and charitable giving.

Talk Of Signature Initiatives Turn Into Reserve Funds For Future Tax Hikes: Rather than setting aside funding for new spending initiatives, the House Democrats’ budget establishes 17 deficit neutral reserve funds, twelve of which would permit unlimited amounts of new spending and taxes.

Posted by: Press Secretary