Press Releases
Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami
202-226-7616
03/27/2007
Pelosi: Democratic Budget Resolution Restores Fiscal Responsibility and Accountability
Washington, D.C. – This week the House will vote on H. Con. Res. 99, the Democratic budget resolution to restore fiscal responsibility and accountability, strengthen our national defense, and invest in the next generation and America’s prosperity.
“While the President’s budgets have turned surpluses into deficits, the Democratic budget takes America in a new direction, returning fiscal responsibility to Washington and funding the right priorities for our nation,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.
The Democratic budget does not raise taxes and makes middle-class tax cuts a priority. It also seeks to enhance revenues by going after the “tax gap” – the difference between taxes owed and taxes collected – and by cracking down on waste, fraud, and abuse in government programs.
Pay-as-you-go budget rules contained in the resolution are critical to establishing fiscal integrity and will begin to reverse the record budget deficits threatening the futures of our children and grandchildren.
Experts endorse Democratic leadership’s new pay-as-you-go budget rules:
Joint Statement from:
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
The Concord Coalition
Committee for Economic Development
Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
“We strongly support current efforts to reestablish and comply with pay-as-you-go discipline in the Congressional budget process… the House, which adopted a pay-as-you-go rule in January—will consider a budget resolution that also assumes proposed initiatives will be paid for…
“At a time when fiscal policies should be focused on reducing deficits in recognition of the enormous strains that the retirement of the baby-boom generation will soon place on federal resources, failure to offset new initiatives on a pay-as-you-go basis would send a dangerous signal that fiscal discipline in Washington has all but disappeared…Restoring the pay-as-you-go principle would, at a minimum, force Congress to weigh the short-term political attractions of new proposals against the long-term fiscal consequences. Given where deficits now stand and the known fiscal challenges that lie ahead, it is policymakers’ responsibility to do this. They owe future generations no less.” [3/21/07]
In addition to the four most respected budget watchdog groups, top experts in Washington have been calling for a restoration of budget discipline over the last several Congresses.
Alan Greenspan
Former Federal Reserve Chairman
“…I have been consistently supportive of maintaining PAYGO and discretionary caps on spending, and I was very much concerned in September 2002, when the fairly effective caps and PAYGO were allowed to lapse.” [Testimony before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, 6/15/04]
David Walker
Comptroller General
“I endorse the restoration of …PAYGO discipline applied to both mandatory and revenue legislation.” [Testimony before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, and International Security, 5/25/06]