Angie Craig: “my amendment would change the current pay-go procedures by establishing a 60-vote point of order against using tax…”

“my amendment would change the current pay-go procedures by establishing a 60-vote point of order against using tax increases to pay for new mandatory spending increases. My amendment is the first step toward reining in the uncontrolled costs of mandatory spending programs that I believe threaten our fiscal future. This budget should have gone further in entitlement reform and it should not have added more entitlement spending, but there is one reform that should be made definitely, and that is to cause no further harm. My amendment will not affect a single current beneficiary of a single existing entitlement program. My amendment will not affect a single person who will qualify to become a beneficiary under the current requirements of any existing entitlement program. My amendment will not prevent the creation of a new entitlement program if there is a true need for the program. It simply will require that such a need be truly demonstrated. My amendment will not prevent a tax increase that is used for deficit reduction. What my amendment will do is put an end to the fiction that tax increases are capable of offsetting the cost of additional mandatory spending.”