From the Democratic Whip Press Shop:
Add the International Monetary Fund to the list of economists, business leaders, and Wall Street executives warning of the damaging consequences of not paying America’s bills:
“The U.S. should raise its $14.3 trillion debt ceiling to avoid ‘a severe shock’ to the global economy, the International Monetary Fund has warned.”
From the Democratic Whip Press Shop:
Yes, we know you’re tired of us quoting him, but Mark Zandi’s comments on the debt limit are definitely worth the read. Here’s a highlight:
If the United States fails to pay the bills it has incurred, it ‘would be a financial disaster not only for our country, but for the world economy.’ Those are the words of Speaker Boehner in January...
"In recent days, we have seen starkly contrasting budget plans. The plans put forward by President Obama and House Democrats are balanced approaches to getting our country out of debt while protecting investments in job creation and the future of our economy. But the Republican plan has a higher priority than balancing the budget or investing in our future or looking out for working families—its highest priority is cutting taxes even further for the wealthiest Americans...
We had a good meeting in the White House yesterday. I think a good, frank discussion. I think the President’s speech laid out essentially what the Commission that he appointed, which was headed by former Chief of Staff Bowles and former Senator Alan Simpson, which said yes, we need to bring spending down. I think that’s generally agreed upon. We’ve got to rein in deficit and debt, it’s dangerous to our economy, our people and our competitiveness internationally. What the President indicated yesterday was yes, we’ve got it bring it down. We’re going to cut spending by about two-thirds of that $4 trillion he wants to cut over the next 12 years and rely on revenues, that is paying for what we buy, for the other third, which is essentially the formula that the Commission set forward. David Stockman in referring to the alternative Ryan budget made it very clear that he thought that was not a reasonable alternative. And that in fact, we had to rely to a much greater degree than the Republicans, who say absolutely no, on revenues.
Well, I thought the President's speech was an excellent speech and what he essentially outlined was the vision that he sees going forward. First of all, he recognized that the deficit is a critical problem we must confront but we must confront it according to the President, and I agree with him, within the framework of the values that we hold dear in this country. And that is, as your previous discussion indicated, making sure that we take care of one another. He did contrast his vision with that of the Republican budget offered by Mr. Ryan, the Budget Chairman in the House, a vision which gets to the same objective of cutting $4 trillion in spending and getting toward balanced budgets but also indicated it should not be in the context of doing away with Medicare as we know it, substantially putting those on Medicaid at great risk by eliminating its guarantees, by cutting such programs as Head Start and other early education and investment in the education of our children so we will be competitive internationally; and at the same time, giving $1 trillion worth of tax cuts to the wealthiest in Americaa.
Today, President Obama outlined a fiscally-responsible plan that would reduce our deficit by $4 trillion over the next 12 years. It subjects our entire budget, including defense spending, to the scrutiny we need to find savings. And it calls for a fairer, simpler tax code that would mean lower rates for businesses and families.
On the CR, I'm still looking at it and our members are still looking at it, but clearly we want to keep the government running. Clearly we needed to reach compromise, and I think the President and Mr. Reid tried to reach the best compromise that was possible.
I'm pleased President Obama will be giving a speech this week to lay out a path of action to seriously address our nation's deficit. I strongly believe that reducing the deficit is critical to ensuring the long-term strength of our economy. Entitlement reform must be part of that effort, to ensure that Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are protected for seniors and working families, as well as strong for generations to come. This can only be done in a bipartisan way, and I hope Republicans work with us and put all options on the table. I support President Obama's focus on this issue, and stand ready to work with him.
"But there is a sure sign of someone who does not take those problems seriously: disparaging and scapegoating public servants, instead of taking on the real challenges...
President Barack Obama says the U.S. must invest in research and development, science, and especially education — or risk seeing the technological breakthroughs of the future happen in some other country."
Frankly, we're going through an exercise right now where we are cutting vital programs which will build our country, educate our children and care for our families. We need to cut spending. We need to reduce the deficit. We need to bring spending down, but, frankly, the process going on now is not well thought out. There were no hearings on it, no exposure to the public's ability to come in and say the quality of these cuts that we're considering. So, I think that we need to focus, as we Democrats have been focusing on, educating our children. We cut pell grants in the Republicans' proposal. We need to invest in research and, frankly, an awful lot of the business community that watches this program understands investing as opposed to spending on nonproductive matters. We ought to cut the latter and invest in the former.
We need to cut spending but make critical investments that allow our nation to out-innovate and out-build our competitors throughout the world, and Republicans fail that test.
Our nation is in deep fiscal trouble, and cutting spending is part of the solution. But we can’t cut spending in a reckless, short-sighted way that mortgages our country’s economic future.
If our country continues on a course of fiscal irresponsibility, and continues to pile debt on our children, we will all feel the consequences, no matter our party. It is vital that our two parties work together to put our fiscal house in order. So when I tell the House how disappointed I am in Republicans’ spending bill for the rest of the fiscal year, I’m coming from a perspective of real worry about our debt—a defining challenge that must be met seriously and thoughtfully. Sadly, that’s not the seriousness we see in Republicans’ spending bill for the rest of this fiscal year.
In 1993, we looked the fiscal situation of our country in the eye. We had sustained $1.4 trillion of deficit spending under President Reagan and $1.1 trillion of deficit spending under President Bush. We put legislation on the floor and said that we need to meet our fiscal responsibilities. Not a single Republican voted for that legislation. But over the next eight years, we had a net surplus in this country—the only time in the lifetime of anyone in this body that it’s happened. Unfortunately, the last administration ran up $3.8 trillion in deficits. And we inherited an economy that was in substantial freefall. We adopted legislation that tried to stabilize the economy, and the good news is that the economy has stabilized. But we still haven’t gotten to where we want to be—far too many Americans remain out of work.
The Republican Spending Bill does not make the tough choices between necessary cuts and smart investments in our future so that we can out-educate our competitors. The Republicans have put forward an irresponsible proposal that arbitrarily cuts:
This week, the House is considering the Republican Spending Bill, a short-sighted and irresponsible proposal that arbitrarily cuts critical investments that grow the economy and create. Democrats agree with Republicans that spending cuts are necessary, but their plan does not make the tough and careful choices needed to cut spending while investing in our future.
Today begins the war over E2I2.The great budget battle of Bill Clinton's presidency was waged around a set of initials also inspired by the "Star Wars" character R2D2. Clinton's lieutenants jauntily encapsulated his fight against Republican cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, education and the environment as a defense of M2E2.
Today, President Obama unveiled a budget that makes tough choices to reduce spending and cut the deficit by $1.1 trillion while protecting investments that strengthen the economy and create jobs. His budget priorities stand in strong contrast to the Republican Spending Bill, a short-sighted proposal that arbitrarily cuts critical investments and does not put forward a real plan to address the deficit – even after they proposed policies that would add $5 trillion to the deficit.
Today, President Obama released his proposed Fiscal Year 2012 budget. The president’s budget makes the tough choices we need to reduce spending and put our nation’s fiscal house in order; in fact, it would reduce our deficit by $1.1 trillion over the next decade. At the same time, however, the budget identifies those investments we need to grow our economy and create jobs—investments in out-building, out-innovating, and out-educating competitors around the world. President Obama’s priorities—protecting our fiscal future while investing in growth—stand in strong contrast to the priorities of Republicans. Their spending bill for the rest of this fiscal year would make indiscriminate and short-sighted cuts to the investments our economy needs to stay competitive. I hope that Republicans will, instead, work with President Obama to reduce our deficit without sacrificing America’s competitive edge.