Steve Chabot: “As Congress considers budget legislation this year, it might be helpful to recall a few things about our constitutional…”

“As Congress considers budget legislation this year, it might be helpful to recall a few things about our constitutional system. Congress controls the purse strings, not the President. And for the taxpayers, it is a good thing the Republicans control Congress, because we all know what happened to spending and to the deficit over the past 40 years, the 40 years when liberal Democrats controlled the Congress. Consider the 1980s when President Reagan was President. The Democrats controlled Congress and spent more than Reagan asked for 7 out of 8 of those years, and then turned around and blamed President Reagan for the deficits. Think of it. Democrats in Congress refused to control spending, adding more and more big government programs each and every year, and then blamed President Reagan for the deficits. Well, now Republicans control Congress by a slim margin and the ``big spender'' is down in the White House. We must reject his proposals to spend any projected surpluses and instead let us pay down the national debt and let us cut taxes.”