Washington, Mar 14 -

What would you do with $3,658?

This week the House will consider the monstrosity that is the Democrats’ FY 2009 federal budget, which was introduced last Wednesday. And not to be outdone by any previous Congress, their budget proposal is historic for all the wrong reasons. Among other things, it:

• Includes the largest tax increase in American history;
• Increases federal spending by hundreds of billions of dollars to expand government programs;
• Abandons reform efforts to fix the broken and abusive earmark system;
• Raises taxes on children by slashing the $1,000 per child tax credit in half; and
• Refuses to rein in entitlement spending in order to save Medicare for future generations.

When you break it down, the financial implications of their budget totals an enormous, broad-based, job killing, $683 billion tax increase that will be placed on working families and small business entrepreneurs. Nationally, under the Democratic tax hike plan, 116 million taxpayers will be burdened with an average tax hike of $1,833. But in the state of New York, the average taxpayer will be paying $3,658 on an annual basis under this budget so the Democratic leadership can finance wasteful new Washington spending.

At a time when Americans are experiencing skyrocketing gasoline prices, escalating health care costs, and a potential recession, the Democrats are being fiscally irresponsible with your hard-earned money. The tax and spend policies of the past do not work, and demanding that the residents of New York State pay $3,658 annually is absurd and preventable. We owe the American people tax relief, not a tax increase.

This budget is another example of how out of touch the Democratic leadership is with the American people. As a Member of Congress, our sworn duty is to better the lives of our constituents and prevent the government from becoming a burden to its citizens. Americans across the country are being forced to tighten their budgets to cope with the rising costs of living and it is time that Congress follows their example. Democrats are attempting to squander hard-earned American money on more unnecessary government programs. Before House Democrats take this budget under further consideration, I invite them to walk down the streets in Corning, Wellsville, or Rochester, and ask any of my constituents one question: Who do you trust more to spend your $3,658- the government or yourself? Regardless of political affiliation, we all know the answer to this question. American taxpayers do not want the government to take more of their hard earned dollars and further drive our country into debt.

This Democratic budget is misguided and fiscally irresponsible. I don’t know what you were planning on doing with your $3,658 but I would imagine the last thing you want to do is give it to your government. In this time of economic turmoil, my constituents do not want, need, or deserve higher taxes.