Jim Inhofe: “I am here to work on what should be an area of widespread, bipartisan agreement with the introduction of the Fiscal…”

“I am here to work on what should be an area of widespread, bipartisan agreement with the introduction of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2006. Many, many people in both parties profess the need to reduce our Government's spending. When I hear individuals waxing poetic about the need for fiscal discipline, I usually offer a simple, one-sentence amendment to restore some discretionary spending discipline, but you should see my friends on the other side of the aisle run for the hills when someone proposes we actually do something about it. When the moment comes to move from mere words to real action on fiscal discipline, over and over I have confronted nearly united opposition to it on the other side of the aisle. Last year we did make some progress on our shared goal. We actually held last year's non-security discretionary spending down below the rate of inflation. Let me repeat that: We actually held last year's non-security spending, over which we had discretion, down below the rate of inflation. Again, we are faced with the same task. The President agrees that we must hold down spending and has proposed to hold down discretionary spending. The Budget Committee agrees we must hold down spending and has proposed to hold down discretionary spending. The American people agree we must hold down spending. Senator Dorgan has said that we need to provide spending cuts in a significant manner.…”