Chris Van Hollen: “Yesterday, we debated the Republican budget proposal as it came to the floor. We saw that even as Americans are working…”

“Yesterday, we debated the Republican budget proposal as it came to the floor. We saw that even as Americans are working even harder every day, their budget would squeeze them more. It would squeeze middle class families and those working to join the middle class. It would squeeze students trying to get an affordable college education. It would squeeze seniors by immediately increasing the cost of prescription drugs, immediately increasing the cost of copays for preventive health services. This budget on the floor today squeezes those families even harder, even as both budgets provide another round of windfall tax cuts to the folks at the very top by cutting the top tax rate by over a third as they green light the Romney-Ryan plan. This particular budget actually will slow down economic growth over the next couple of years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Those are the nonpartisan professionals that analyze these budgets. They looked at the Republican budget and said: You know, it will slow down growth in the next couple of years. This particular version of the Republican budget will do so even more. Why would we want to slow down economic growth just as the trends are picking up? Look, we have got a long way to go to get everybody back to work, but we are on the right path, on the right trajectory. Why would we want to put on the brakes, as the Republican budget does, as well as the RSC budget, in the coming years?…”