Debate on the Democratic Budget
March 29th, 2007 by Jesse LeeUPDATE: The Democratic budget has passed the House, including the largest veterans’ funding increase in American history with no new taxes.
Today, the House will vote on the Democratic Budget. The Democratic budget reflects the country’s priorities and values.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi: “Today, this new Congress will put America’s fiscal House in order. It will do so by presenting and voting on the Democratic budget as designed by Mr. Spratt, the Chairman of the Budget Committee, and the House Democrats. I wish that it were coming to the floor with bipartisan support in the Congress, I know that it has bipartisan support in the country.” |
Read about the Democratic Budget in the current legislation section:
- It expands health care for our children;
- It provides our soldiers and veterans with care worthy of their sacrifice;
- It supports education for a 21st century workforce and a growing economy;
- It invests in renewable energy for an energy independent America, taking on global warming; and
- It restores fiscal responsibility to the budget process.
While the President’s budgets have turned surpluses into deficits, the Democratic budget brings fiscal responsibility back to Washington and funds the right priorities for our nation.
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.
As noted previously, the following projections of adjustments to federal revenues or, in other words, the additional taxes levied on the American people, can be found on page 113 of the budget:
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer: “The rhetoric on this floor is cheap. But the performance is not. And during those 18 years of Republican leadership of this country, we ran $4.2 trillion in deficits. During the 8 years that Bill Clinton was president, we had a $62.9 trillion surplus.” |