May 17, 2007 - Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) made the following statement today on the Democrats’ $2.9 trillion budget, which proposes to raise taxes by $736 billion – the largest tax increase in American history.
“Tax and spend liberals are at it again and Americans should hold on to their wallets,” said Senator DeMint. “The Democrat budget will force taxpayers to send more of their hard-earned money to Washington. This budget calls for massive tax hikes and big spending increases, and it threatens our economic growth and job creation. It even raids billions of dollars from Social Security to pay for new spending.”
“Instead of relying on tax increases, the federal budget should be balanced by controlling spending, reforming entitlement programs, and keeping the economy strong. Instead of raiding Social Security surpluses to mask the true size of the deficit, Congress should take this money off the table so it can be used to strengthen the program for our children and grandchildren.
“The U.S. economy has grown and prospered over the past several years with the creation of nearly 8 million new jobs and tax revenues that have outpaced projections by $300 billion. The Democrat budget will act as an anchor, dragging down the economy with massive tax increases, spending, and debt.”
Key Provisions in the Democrats’ Fiscal Year 2008 Budget
• Imposes Largest Tax Increase in History: Despite the economic success of the 2001/2003 tax relief, this budget fails to extend important tax relief, thus imposing a $736 billion tax hike over five years on families, seniors, and businesses.
• Embraces Unrestrained Spending: Budget spends $205 billion over the President’s discretionary request over five years.
• Racks Up Trillions in Debt: Spending in the budget increase gross debt by $2.5 trillion over five years.
• Ignores Entitlement Crisis: Budget makes no attempt to address the $69 trillion long-term entitlement obligation facing the nation, effectively pass the burden on to future generations.
• Creates Roadblocks to Basic Tax Relief: A two-step House trigger mechanism requires that any tax relief for 2010 or later be covered by a projected 2012 surplus, creating a complicated obstacle to even the most basic tax relief. Budget makes tax relief contingent on a surplus, but fails to apply the same standard to spending increases.
• Raids Social Security: Budget spends every penny of the Social Security surplus on other government programs.
• Uses “Tax-Go” to Force Future Tax Increases: Pay-go, or “Tax-go,” is weakened so that it is easy to spend in the short-term, but the offsetting “pay-for” part of the equation is delayed over 6 and 11 years, allowing Congress to charge now and pay later – much later.
• Weakens Budget Enforcement Rules: The “Save Social Security First” point of order, contained in the Senate-passed budget, was thrown out. The point of order against raising income tax rates, contained in the Senate-passed budget, was thrown out. The requirement for a supermajority to waive unfunded mandates point of order was thrown out, making it easier to burden state and local governments with costs from federal government requirements.
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