IN THE NEWS

HOYER: MID-SESSION REVIEW BRINGS NO GOOD NEWS

"Crippling Deficits Threaten Our Nation's Fiscal Security"

WASHINGTON, DC - House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (MD) released the following statement regarding the Mid-Session Budget Review released by the Bush Administration's Office of Management and Budget this morning.  OMB is required by law to present the Mid-Session Review by July 15, but was two weeks late:

"It's glaringly apparent why this report was released on the slowest of news days -- a Friday, with Congress in recess, and the day after the Democratic National Convention ended.  It's an unmitigated political embarrassment for the Bush Administration, and a dire warning sign for the American people.

"How Administration officials can, with a straight face, claim that their economic policies are working and that they are reining in the deficit is beyond me.  Plain and simple, this Mid-Session Review projects a record deficit of $445 billion this year -- $70 billion more than last year's record of $375 billion.

"The President and Congressional Republicans will try to gloss over this dismal report, claiming that the deficit isn't as high as was predicted earlier this year.   That's a sorry justification - and an evasion of responsibility - that taxpayers should not tolerate.  Furthermore, our friends in the Republican Party would at least regain some credibility if they admitted that their tax policies spawned these deficits.

"Democrats led the way in turning deficit into surpluses in the 1990s.  And when we recapture the White House and Congress in November, we intend to restore the fiscal responsibility that powered our economy to unprecedented growth in that decade.  We believe it's not only irresponsible but immoral to make future generations pay this generations bills."

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