WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins issued the following statement about President Obama’s $3.83 trillion fiscal year 2011 budget:
 
“Last week we heard President Obama in his State of the Union pledge to take seriously the need for fiscal responsibility. At that time I said, ‘promises build hope, keeping promises builds trust.’ Yet today, he released his fiscal year 2011 budget plan that seems to run counter his promises and further dampens the American people’s trust in government. The President’s $3.8 trillion budget will push our nation’s deficit to a record $1.6 trillion this year, further burying the American people under a mountain of debt.
 
“I appreciate the President’s proposed spending freeze of non-defense discretionary spending. But proposing a freeze that will only affect 13 percent of the budget months after signing into law legislation that has led to an 84 percent increase in non-defense discretionary spending over two years is not going far enough.
 
“Last week, the President acknowledged the federal government needs to ‘tighten its belt’ but his budget does not seem to reflect the fiscal discipline needed to put our nation on a sound fiscal path. The Administration’s own estimates predict nearly trillion dollar deficits as far as the eye can see, and they actually increase in the later years. The longer it takes to restore responsibility to fiscal policies in Washington, the harder it is going to be to grow our economy. The time for action is now.”