On the recordJanuary 5, 2011
On day one of this new Congress, these Republicans take a giant step backwards. They profess such great concern about their ability to cut wasteful spending. First off, they abandon pay-as-you-go budgeting, returning to the Bush-Cheney approach of endless borrowing. They claim they could cut so much, but they reject a rule that requires them to cut spending as one way to offset revenue losses for each new tax break they approve. Their misleading CutGo just cuts fiscal discipline and says to go borrow from the Chinese. These Republicans are like the fellow who bellies up to the bar and says, Just one more round of tax breaks for my buddies. Put it on my tab. Except it's our tab. All Americans will pay for their endless borrowing for endless tax breaks. They are indifferent to our national debt except when it comes to cutting vital initiatives that they wanted to weaken or eliminate in the first place. We need pay-as-you-go budgeting just like a family that faces a high credit card debt and knows it can't balance its budget by cutting off its income or by simply cutting school lunches or other necessities. Neither can America afford to distort this budget.
