Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media

Coffee Brown, University of New Mexico, Talk Radio News

Speaking on behalf of both House and Senate Republicans, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) presented a joint Republican rebuttal to the president’s budget. Calling it, as Pence said, ”In a very real sense, a blueprint for the future,” they didn’t like it.
Spence said that Republicans would “collaborate…to both challenge the assumptions and the content of the president’s budget, as well as offer positive, substantive alternatives for responsible growth.” He said the budget spends “unprecedented amounts in new ways.”
“According to independent estimates, the government may have to hire 250,000 new federal bureaucrats just to pass out all the money,” he said, and, “This is the largest tax increase in history.” Adding that it would mainly affect small business owners filing as individuals.
Pence went on to say that the new energy tax would cost every American up to $3,125 per year.
He also said that this would be the highest level of borrowing ever.
Alexander stated that, “The question before the American people is whether the American family can afford the Democrats’ spending, the Democrats’ taxing, and the Democrats’ borrowing. And we’ve got four weeks to make that case, starting with this week.”
“This budget doubles the debt in five years, and it triples it in ten years,” he said, adding, “and there’s talk of a second stimulus package.”
Both men agreed that across-the-board tax cuts would be preferable to spending for stimulus.