Mike Levin: “this budget reflects the wrong priorities for America. It is way out of touch with working families in Michigan and…”

“this budget reflects the wrong priorities for America. It is way out of touch with working families in Michigan and across the United States. It does not reflect their needs and goals, such as improved education and increased access to health care, but it burdens them with increasing debt. At the same time, this budget continues to cut taxes mainly for the wealthiest Americans at the expense of our nation's fiscal health. Fundamentally, this budget continues this administration's policies that have led to the deepest deficit and debt in American history. For that reason alone it should be defeated. This administration's policies have taken us from record surpluses to record deficits. The deficit for this year alone is $427 billion. This budget would increase the deficit next year. Continued deficits will mean rising long-term interest rates and slower economic growth. Continued deficits will make it more expensive to buy a house, pay for college, or pay off credit card debt. Alan Greenspan recently warned that, if left unchecked, deficits ``would cause the economy to stagnate or worse.'' Continued deficits will also mean the continued use of the Social Security trust fund to cover some of the funding shortfall. The President's tax cuts are a major cause of the deficits, yet this resolution would add $70 billion more in tax breaks. Three-quarters of those tax breaks are for the wealthiest 3 percent of Americans, who are earning more than $200,000 a year.…”