Garrett Voices Concern about the President’s Budget
Urges OMB Director Nussle to Promote Fiscal Responsibility in Washington
Washington,
Feb 7, 2008 -
(Washington, DC) Today, US Representative Scott Garrett (NJ-5), a member of the House Budget Committee, made the following statement during a hearing on President Bush’s fiscal year 2009 budget:
“Thank you, Chairman Spratt and Congressman Ryan for holding this hearing and thank you, Director Nussle, for your testimony. It is good to see our former Chairman again and I am pleased that you are using your extensive knowledge and abilities in continuing to serve our country.
“Director Nussle, I would first like to commend you and the President for attempting to do a number of things that our friends across the aisle failed to do in their budget last year. I am pleased that in this budget you assume that Congress will pass a one-year extension of the AMT relief. We all know that permanently scaling back the AMT has broad bipartisan support. While I wish the budget would reflect the long-term effect of repealing this tax, I do applaud you for going further than our Democrat colleagues by at least proposing a one-year patch in your proposal.
“Also, I would like to commend you and the administration for attempting to begin to rein in the unsustainable growth of mandatory spending. Almost all of the economists that testify before the Committee (CBO, GAO, OMB, Treasury, and The Federal Reserve) state that the biggest fiscal concern we face long term is the continued increases in mandatory spending. Unfortunately, our democrat colleagues have yet to include in their budget proposals any possible significant reforms to address this important concern.
“I am also pleased that you have proposed cutting 151 programs that cost $18 billion and have been found to be ineffective, inefficient or duplicative. This provides Congress with some helpful guidelines on where we can trim some of the “fat” off of the budget.
“However, even with some of these positive developments, I still have a number of concerns with this budget. While I agree that we must continue to support our troops and we must set priorities for spending, I also believe the administration needs to make fiscal responsibility the leading yardstick for this budget. Balancing the budget by 2012 is a good goal, but I believe we can do better.
“I am concerned that the President's revenue forecasts may be overly optimistic. A recent survey of private economists estimated a 2.1 percent growth increase, but the President predicts 2.7 percent. Furthermore, the estimate for spending in Iraq and Afghanistan appear unrealistically low at $70 billion, especially when measured against the current rate of spending there.
“Our nation needs long-term economic growth, and the largest federal budget in U.S. history is not the way to achieve that. The most effective way to reinvigorate the economy and spur economic growth is to ensure that job creators -- American small businesses -- have a lower tax and regulatory burden.”
