"NO" On the Simpson-Bowles Budget
"NO" On the Simpson-Bowles Budget
Today, the House will vote on the Cooper-LaTourette Substitute Amendment to H.Con.Res. 112. The amendment, based off President Obama's fiscal debt commission from 2010 known as Simpson-Bowles, would raise taxes by $1.2 trillion and reduce future spending increases by about $2 trillion—mostly through defense cuts.
The Simpson-Bowles budget continues the Washington status quo: spend as much as you want, and then raise taxes to pay for it. America does not have a tax revenue problem, we have a spending problem. Any budget that raises taxes in order to defer the necessary choices needed to rein in spending needs to be scrapped.
Historically, revenues amount to 18 percent of our gross domestic product (GDP). The Simpson-Bowles budget would raise revenues to 21 percent of our GDP—a massive increase that continues the tax-and-spend agenda of the Washington Establishment. Introducing a budget that gives both sides a little of what they want in order to claim the mantle of bipartisanship will not fix our problem, it will exacerbate it.
Simpson-Bowles contains numerous other flaws: it retains all $2.5 trillion of Obamacare; excludes structural reforms of Medicare and Medicare; contains timid spending cuts; and fails to address massive increases in education and transportation policy. Washington needs to change its spending habits, not tweak the status quo. Failure to do that will ensure we face this same crisis year after year until our nation ends up like Greece.
Heritage Action opposes the Simpson-Bowles budget and will include it as a key vote on our scorecard.
Related:
Heritage Action's Scorecard
Heritage: The Debt Commission Chairmen's Surprising Hidden Agenda
Heritage Reacts to Simpson-Bowles Deficit Reduction Panel Proposal
"NO" On the Simpson-Bowles Budget