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House passes fake spending restraint bill, Foxx supports alternative
Washington, DC,
July 22, 2009
Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) today voted against a proposal (H.R. 2920) that the independent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said could lead to even larger government deficits. However, she voted in favor of an alternative go
Contact: 202-225-2071 Foxx votes for alternative that halts breakneck pace of spending Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) today voted against a proposal (H.R. 2920) that the independent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said could lead to even larger government deficits. However, she voted in favor of an alternative government spending reform proposal that would effectively arrest the unsustainable growth of government. “Today Congress cooked up a batch of fake fiscal responsibility that looks good but has the taste of a bitter pill of deception,” Foxx said. “Let’s stop playing this shell game and enact a pay as you go bill that actually works—instead of paving the way for new tax hikes on North Carolina families and small businesses.” H.R. 2920, which is billed as a pay as you go (PAYGO) fix for out of control spending, is actually full of exemptions and loopholes for spending on scores of government programs: It does not apply to so-called “discretionary” spending, which accounts for 40 percent of the budget. The bill also exempts “emergency” spending, but allows Congress to arbitrarily apply the emergency designation to exempting spending from the PAYGO rules. Plus, more than 160 government programs are exempted from PAYGO, including the $700 billion bank bailout and parts of the $787 billion stimulus package. In addition, the CBO’s analysis of H.R. 2920 found that the bill could actually produce larger federal deficits in the future. In its report CBO writes that “the legislation’s enactment could lead to larger future deficits.” “This bill allows federal spending to continue to grow at breakneck speed. Unfortunately, Congress shot down a Republican alternative that I supported which focuses on the real problem—runaway spending.” The Republican alternative to H.R. 2920 requires that Federal spending cannot grow faster than the economy; it establishes a cap on discretionary spending, rather than exempting it as the Democrat bill does; it rejects the practice of chasing higher spending with higher taxes; and it reduces deficits. |