Congressman Tom Price (R-GA) issued the following statements responding to the speech about deficit reduction given by Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) at an event put on today by Third Way, a liberal think tank.

On Passing the Buck to an Unelected Commission “Leader Hoyer said Democrats will not even attempt to pass a budget resolution because they are waiting until after the elections for a presidential commission to tell them what to do,” said Congressman Price. “So the Democrats’ excuse for not doing their job is that they have passed the buck to someone else. Last time I checked, the American people elected a Congress, not a commission.”

On PAYGO “The Democrats’ notion of pay-as-you-go provides billions upon billions of dollars in exemptions,” said Congressman Price. “Without these exemptions, Leader Hoyer said Democrats would render PAYGO ‘toothless’ by ignoring it ‘again and again.’ Since it became law, Democrats have already rendered PAYGO toothless by waiving it over a dozen times. The Democrats’ unprecedented annual deficits show the emptiness of their pay-as-you-go claims.”

On the Democrats’ Lack of Leadership “It is time Democrats stopped making excuses for their total lack of leadership on combating Washington’s dangerous debt addiction,” said Chairman Price. “For the first time in the modern era, the House will not pass a budget to plan for future spending. They will not even try. Resolving this debt crisis will take a serious commitment to a serious plan. Democrats have neither.”

On Republican Solutions “Contrary to Leader Hoyer’s talking points, Republicans have presented concrete solutions for breaking Washington’s addiction to debt,” said Chairman Price. “The RSC has a budget proposal to achieve a surplus in 2019 without raising taxes. Under President Obama’s vision, the annual deficit that year would still be more than $1 trillion, even as Americans face a much bigger tax burden.”