GOP Budget Plans Ruffle Democrats
Tuesday, April 5, 2011 at 2:19PMBy Anna Cameron
Prior to a meeting of the House Democratic Caucus Tuesday, Democrats criticized a pair of GOP budget plans — one short-term, one long-term — that have received significant attention today.
“What is happening…is you see Republican Governors using the fragile economic situation and the deficit as a pretext for going after working Americans,” said Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). “What we are seeing here in Washington D.C. is exactly the same thing.”
According to Van Hollen, the Republicans’ 2012 budget proposal, drafted primarily by House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), is a reflection of the “same rigid, ideological agenda,” which extends further tax breaks to the wealthy, cuts funding to education, research, and infrastructure, and dismantles the Medicare guarantee to senior citizens.
“Our budget reflects our values, and those values do not include balancing a budget on the backs of the disabled veterans, on the backs of students trying to obtain their college education, [and] on the backs of the elderly seeking their medical care,” said House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) of the difference between Democrats and Republicans.
“This war on workers has to stop,” urged House Democratic Caucus Vice Chair Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.). “Unfortunately, it looks like…it will now add a second front: a war on seniors.”
As a potential government shutdown looms, the White House has rejected the latest Republican stopgap measure, which would cut $12 billion while keeping the government running for another week.
“Obviously, we feel its in everyone’s interests to keep government open and performing,” said Larson when asked about the latest GOP-authored CR. “But we wont continue to see death by 1000 slashes as we go through this charade of puppetry orchestrated by the Tea Party as to whether or not there’s going to be any kind of budget resolution this year, or [if] we just continue these week-to-week sojourns.”
Democratic Caucus Planning Jobs Legislation Before Christmas
House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) said Tuesday that the House of Representatives will pass a job creation bill before Congress breaks for its Christmas recess.
“We feel we can move fairly quickly,” Larson said following a Democratic Caucus meeting. “We have a limited amount of time left, but we feel we can accomplish those goals in that time period.”
The legislation proposed by House Democrats would use Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds to pay for the job creation program, an idea that was endorsed by President Barack Obama during his remarks at the Brookings Institute earlier in the day.
“I am glad President Obama agrees with proposals set forth by House Democrats to use returning TARP funds to pay for job creation legislation,” Larson said. “It is time for Wall Street to help rebuild Main Street. We will take steps in the coming weeks to make sure that happens.”
Larson said the size and cost of a jobs package will depend on further discussions with the executive branch, but the need for job stimulation is a top priority within the House.