Across Northern California, families, farmers and small business owners are making sacrifices to manage their budgets so that they can ride out this difficult economic climate.  In particular, many residents have scaled back on unnecessary expenses because the family budget or the long-term success of a small business depends on spending money wisely and eliminating non-essential costs.   It’s sadly apparent, however, that many in Washington don’t share this concern when it comes to government spending.

We’re facing serious challenges and it’s now time to get back to the fundamentals that have led to growth in our economy.  We need a return to a limited government that frees its citizens of burdensome taxes.  We need to tighten our belts and keep wasteful spending out of our budget.  These commonsense ideals have worked in the past and they can work today. 

I’m sad to say that the budget proposed by President Obama and approved by Congress will take us in the opposite direction.  The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office stated that the proposed increases in government spending will explode the deficit.  In fact, the projected deficits over the next ten years will exceed all of our nation’s previous deficits combined while ignoring the entitlement crisis.  Our nation is undergoing a massive government expansion unseen since the unsuccessful Great Society programs of the 1960s and this massive spending spree is a slap in the face of future generations that will have to pay the bill.

The President’s budget calls for trillions of dollars in tax increases that, incredibly, won’t come close to paying for all of this new spending.  These tax hikes jeopardize the jobs of millions of Americans by squeezing small businesses that are already nearing the breaking point.  Included in the tax increases is a massive $646 billion energy tax that will cost up to $3,128 per household.  As we try to jumpstart our economy, tax increases will create a drag on any recovery attempts we make.

We need to follow the example of the families and businesses that have reigned in their spending and acted in a fiscally responsible manner.  I am supporting an alternative budget that reduces spending, dramatically simplifies the tax code and lowers taxes on middle class families and small businesses, and slashes the debt to a far more manageable level.  Additionally, it directly addresses the entitlement crisis that has put our nation’s financial future at tremendous risk.  This alternative offers a much better solution and it will help get our fiscal house in order.  You can learn more about it at http://www.house.gov/budget_republicans/.

America has a great tradition of providing our children better opportunities than we received.  This Democrat budget puts us in very real danger of leaving the next generation with a lower standard of living.  I will continue to stand strongly against this disastrous course.  Congress must reject the irresponsibility of the Democratic budget.  Instead, we must adopt the alternative budget plan that will offer clear, positive solutions without adding to the crippling debt.