Congressman Dennis Cardoza
18th Congressional District of California

"The first thing you should do when you’re in a hole is to stop digging," Cardoza said. "We have outlined a real course of action to restore our nation’s economic security. The spending controls in this enforcement plan are a necessary first step to solve our fiscal problems."

The Blue Dog’s budget enforcement package presents a stark contrast to other budget enforcement proposals being circulated by others in Congress and the Bush Administration. Those proposals contain loopholes that Congress exploits to pass legislation adding to the national debt. The national debt has soared nearly $2 trillion under the watch of the current administration, with trillions more projected in the next 10 years under current policies.

"Unless the rules enforcing budget discipline are reinstated, Congress and the president will continue to dig us into an even deeper hole," Cardoza said. "Strong budget enforcement is the key to restraining Congress and the president from further increasing our debt."

The Blue Dog Budget Enforcement Plan contains three key provisions:

1. Extend and Strengthen Budget Enforcement Rules—The Blue Dog Plan sets discretionary spending limits for three years at the president’s levels, reinstates PAYGO rules for all spending or revenue legislation that would increase the deficit, and requires a separate vote in the House to waive the PAYGO requirement as well as to increase spending above discretionary limits.
2. Reform Emergency Spending Loophole—The Blue Dog Plan establishes a general definition for emergency spending, requires the president and Appropriations Committee to provide justifications for emergency spending based on established criteria, and allows for a separate vote to strike an emergency designation in a spending bill.
3. Strengthen Accountability and Information in the Budget Process—The Blue Dog Plan prevents budget gimmicks intended to circumvent budget rules or mask the costs of legislation by closing loopholes in the budget act and requiring greater information regarding the costs of legislation.

The Blue Dogs – a group of 38 moderate and conservative Democrats whose attention to fiscal discipline has won them praise from magazine and newspaper editorials around the country – were lauded by Robert Bixby, executive director of the bipartisan Concord Coalition, who addressed the need for meaningful budget enforcement reform.

"The Concord Coalition strongly supports the Blue Dog Coalition’s call for a tough new budget enforcement law," Bixby said. "We are particularly pleased that the budget enforcement plan the Blue Dogs have put forward would restore statutory caps for discretionary spending and the original pay-as-you-go requirement for entitlement expansions and tax cuts."