Fiscal Responsibility
Over the years, Democrats have shown our commitment to restoring fiscal responsibility by taking actions that have reduced our national deficit while investing in the American people’s priorities. During the 117th Congress, House Democrats delivered the landmark Inflation Reduction Act, which will reduce the deficit by over $300 billion while lowering health care and energy costs and taking action on climate change. In sharp contrast, Republicans jammed their 2017 Trump Tax Scam through Congress without a single hearing, gifting trillions of dollars in unpaid-for tax handouts to the wealthiest Americans and large corporations while leaving our nation with ballooning deficits. They have repeatedly held our economy hostage to benefit their irresponsible ideological agenda, whether creating artificial “fiscal cliffs,” shutting down the government, or bringing our nation to the brink of defaulting on its obligations. With other landmark legislation delivered during the 117th Congress, including the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the CHIPS and Science Act, Democrats have worked to invest in economic recovery, job creation, all while cutting the deficit in half last year. Democrats are committed to continuing our work to restore sound, long-term fiscal management so future generations can afford to invest in opportunities, secure the American Dream, and ensure workers have the tools to Make It In America.
I would like to see the formation of a ‘Responsibility Caucus’ – a caucus that is honest with the American people; that doesn't pretend that this debt limit vote is a real vote, [that doesn’t pretend] it's a real vote when you cut revenues by hundreds of billions of dollars and don't pay for it, and if you think that that does not up the debt, somehow pays for it, you haven't been around for the last 35 years watching.
Last week, the Treasury Department announced that extraordinary measures employed to avoid a default on our debt will be exhausted on November 3, but instead of taking action to ensure America pays its bills, House Republicans are bringing an irresponsible bill to the Floor that plans for a default by paying foreign bondholders before other obligations.
WASHINGTON, DC - House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement today on the Congressional Budget Office's monthly budget review for September, the final report for FY 2015. The review showed that the federal government ran a deficit of $435 billion in FY 2015, the smallest deficit since 2007:
We’re here to send a strong message by Democrats in the House and Senate and by Americans across the country that sequester – that’s a complicated word that I tell people starts with ‘S,’ which stands for stupid – must be replaced. The sequester harms our economy and our national security.
Last week, the Treasury Department notified Congress that extraordinary measures to prevent a default will be exhausted on November 5.
This afternoon, the House and Senate received a letter from the Treasury Department providing notice that the extraordinary measures employed to avoid a default on or debt will be exhausted on November 5.
Today’s CBO report makes clear that repealing the Affordable Care Act, as Republicans have consistently voted to do, would explode the deficit, cause millions to lose their insurance coverage, and raise costs for seniors on Medicare.
Happy Friday! For your amusement, we thought we'd pass along the following graphic House Republicans recently released:
This week, Republicans are negotiating an unworkable budget agreement that disinvests in our nation's long-term economic growth and makes it harder for working Americans to get ahead.
The House Democratic budget proposal unveiled today by Ranking Member Van Hollen is a responsible alternative to Republicans’ short-sighted proposal to disinvest in America’s future while pursuing a strategy of selective sequestration.