As President Barack Obama’s budget proposal was delivered to Congress today, U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam strongly criticized the $3.8 trillion plan, which sets records for spending and indebtedness. 

“President Obama has in recent weeks used his rhetorical gifts to sound more willing to work with Republicans, but this budget is full of the same policies we’ve seen for the last year,” said Putnam. “It’s more of the same: More taxes, more deficits, and more debt.”

“Tax revenue increases by $2 trillion over 10 years – and this does not begin to account for the cap-and-trade energy tax he wants to impose or the new tax on those who do not purchase health insurance.  It boosts the budget deficit this year to the largest share of the economy since World War II.  And it doubles the national debt in five years and triples it by 2019. This is not a realistic, sustainable budget.  This not only puts us on the wrong track, it has us heading in the wrong direction.” 

“If we are going to restore America’s confidence in its economic future, then we need a bold plan that does away with the self-imposed obstacles to our economic growth, and which frees up American enterprise to do what it does best.  The American people understand that a so-called budget that borrows and spends our way into ever deeper debt is only a plan for deeper debt, not a return path to prosperity.”

Since 2001, Putnam has represented Florida’s 12^th Congressional District, which includes most of Polk County and portions of Hillsborough and Osceola counties.