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Paul Ryan on Today’s Rejection of Obama’s Budget


BIPARTISAN AND BICAMERAL. That says it all. Obama is truly a “partisan” president.

Below is the text of the press release from the House Budget Committee regarding the newest unanimous vote to reject President Obama’s fiscal plan: House Budget Committee Press <hbcpress@mail.house.gov>

Date: Wed, May 16, 2012 at 4:52 PM
Subject: Paul Ryan on Bipartisan, Bicameral Rejection of President’s Budget: 0-513

PAUL RYAN | House Budget Committee
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 16, 2012
PERMALINK
CONTACT:
Conor Sweeney
Chairman Ryan on the Clarifying Choice Offered by U.S. Senate’s Budget Failures
 President Obama and his party’s leaders fail to advance solutions, prove unfit to govern
WASHINGTON – On the 1,113th day since Senate Democrats last passed a budget, the U.S. Senate considered a series of budget resolutions, none authored or supported by a single Senate Democrat. The national debt has eclipsed the size of the entire U.S. economy, yet the Democrat-controlled Senate has failed to pass a budget for over three years. They chose again this year not to even propose a budget. While a series of Republican budget proposals received support today, the President’s Fiscal Year 2013 budget was rejected 0-99 – with every single Democrat and every single Republican voting against the President’s fiscal plan.In response to today’s clarifying exercise on the Senate floor today, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan issued the following statement:“The budget votes today in the Democrat-controlled Senate reveal a clear choice of two futures: painful austerity from politicians who refuse to lead and a path to prosperity from solutions-oriented reformers. Not only does this mark the third year Senate Democrats have failed to put forward a budget, it also marks the second year in which they joined Republicans in unanimously rejecting the President’s budget. In the past two years – in the House and the Senate, the President’s budgets have received zero votes in favor and 610 votes against. It is no surprise that Democrats up for reelection want nothing to do with the President’s massive increases in spending, taxing and borrowing. The fact that no Senate Democrat has voted in favor of a single budget resolution on the Senate floor in over three years is among the most embarrassing spectacles in Washington. “I thank Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Jeff Sessions for his leadership on fiscal issues, and I applaud the efforts of Senators Toomey, Lee and Paul for advancing alternative budget proposals. Senate Republicans continue to advance and affirm bold solutions to the nation’s most urgent fiscal and economic challenges. Once again, Republicans are leading while the Democrats who run their party refuse to put forward solutions. Instead, they insist on recklessly spending billions of dollars we don’t have with no restraints and no accountability. The President and his party’s leaders refuse to tackle our generation’s defining challenge, choosing instead to repeat the mistakes of Europe with empty rhetoric, broken promises, and the growth-stifling folly of chasing ever-higher government spending with ever-higher tax increases. To find out where this path leads, just ask the Greeks.

“The Democrats who run their party are letting the country down. This is especially disappointing because there are some Democrats and Independent voices who have expressed a willingness to tackle our nation’s challenges in a bipartisan way with principled solutions. But Washington needs new leadership in the White House and the U.S. Senate in order to deliver these solutions to the American families who deserve them, and to ensure that we leave our children with a stronger nation than the one our parents left us.”

To learn more about The Path to Prosperity – the House-passed FY2013 budget – please visit: http://budget.house.gov/fy2013Prosperity/

Of note: The Path to Prosperity received 41 more votes than the President’s budget in the U.S. Senate today and 228 more votes than the President’s budget in the U.S House of Representatives earlier this year.

Unanimous Rejection in the Senate

From the Senate Budget Press Office:

0-99: Senate Unanimously Rejects President’s Budget

“If Congress adopts this budget, then along with the cuts that we’ve already made, we’ll be able to reduce our deficit by $4 trillion by the year 2022 — $4 trillion… But the main idea in the budget is this:  At a time when our economy is growing and creating jobs at a faster clip, we’ve got to do everything in our power to keep this recovery on track.” – President Barack Obama, Feb. 13, 2012

“This Budget lays out the President’s vision to… build an economy that will grow robustly and create good jobs for years to come [and] pursue deficit reduction that is balanced and will put the country on a sustainable fiscal path.” – OMB Acting Director Jeffrey Zients, Feb. 14, 2012

“The president tomorrow will be presenting a budget that does $4 trillion of deficit reduction over 10 years. It does it in a way that builds an economy in America that can last… and calling for shared American values where everybody, you know, has a fair shot, does their fair share and plays by the same rules.” – White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew, Feb. 12, 2012