House Dems To Answer GOP With Budget Proposal Of Their Own

By Anna Cameron

During a speech at the Center for American Progress Tuesday, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), the House Budget Committee’s ranking member, revealed that Democrats will introduce a FY 2012 budget plan of their own on Wednesday in response to the GOP proposal released last week.

Chastising the Republican budget drafted primarily by House Budget Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), Van Hollen referred to the proposal as a “yellow brick road for the already prosperous, and a dead end for the rest of the country.”

“The Republican budget dismisses much of the American experience,” said Van Hollen. “It recognizes the importance of individual self-reliance…but it fails to recognize…that out of many we unite as one…to advance the common good.”

Van Hollen noted that the Democratic proposal would reach a similar fiscal balance target as that of the GOP blueprint, while still managing to maintain a commitment to outbuild, out-educate, and out-innovate.

In order to reduce the deficit and foster economic growth, Van Hollen alluded to cuts in military spending, as well as a tax hike for the wealthy.

“Our budget will reduce the deficit and remain true to our values…in a steady, predictable way,” said Van Hollen. “It is a sensible and balanced approach.”

Though the Democratic proposal will gain no traction in a Republican-controlled House, the initiative will demonstrate the party’s commitment to balancing the budget and reducing the deficit - an important notion in light of attacks from the right that state otherwise.

President Barack Obama is expected to release his own plan for deficit reduction Wednesday. The GOP proposal attempts to cut $6.2 trillion over the next decade by reforming the Medicare and Medicaid models, freezing discretionary spending and altering the tax code. 


House Dems Rebuke GOP Budget As The "Ryan Roadmap To Ruin"

By Anna Cameron

As the House Budget Committee began its markup of President Obama’s fiscal year 2012 budget request Wednesday, members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus gathered in opposition to the latest GOP budget proposal.

“The room to our right is filled with people listening to a budget proposal that balances the budget on the backs of the poor, the elderly, the children,” Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) said during a press conference held by the CPC.

According to Democrats, House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) 2012 budget proposal would have an especially devastating impact on seniors, based on the privatization of Medicare and the implementation of a voucher system.

“Our seniors, who have cut a path for all of us to walk behind, have got to have dignity in their lives as they are in their golden years,” said Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chair Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.). “[This] is something that the ‘Ryan Roadmap to Ruin’ just obliterates.”

In addition, Democrats noted that the proposed FY 2012 budget, which they claim caters to corporations and the wealthiest 2 percent of the population, would do nothing to create jobs and conversely raise unemployment rates.

“If this budget goes through you’re going to see not jobs created for all Americans, but you’re going to see higher unemployment rates throughout the country,” said Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) “You’re going to see twice the national average, of whatever that will be, in the African-American, Latino, and Asian-Pacific-American communities.”

The Congressional Progressive Caucus noted that it will release its budget blueprint Thursday.