Van Hollen Statement on the House Republican Budget

Statement

Today Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen, Ranking Member on the House Budget Committee, issued the following statement responding to the Republican Budget released this morning:

"We welcome an honest and respectful debate about the best way to grow the economy, create jobs, and cut the deficit. The big question facing House Republicans was whether they would break the mold and craft a balanced and serious plan to reduce the deficit. Sadly, the answer is no.

"Behind the sunny rhetoric of reform, the Republican Budget represents the rigid ideological agenda that extends tax cuts to the rich and powerful at the expense of the rest of America -- except this time on steroids.

"The question is not whether to reduce the deficit, but how. To govern is to choose, and it is not courageous to protect tax breaks for millionaires, oil companies, and other big money special interests while slashing our investments in education, ending the current health care guarantees for seniors on Medicare, and denying health care coverage to tens of millions of Americans. That's not courageous, it's wrong.

"The Republican Budget totally rejects the balanced approach taken by the Bipartisan Fiscal Commission, which returned tax rates for the top 2 percent income earners to the same level as they were during the booming years of the Clinton Administration and raised revenue by shutting tax loopholes and limiting tax expenditures. Unfortunately, the Republican Budget takes a lopsided approach."

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