President’s Budget Receives Cold Welcome From Oklahoma Delegation

By Jason Doyle Oden

The reception of the Oklahoma Congressional delegation toward President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2017 budget proposal was less than welcoming. For example, Senator James Lankford took to the Senate floor to call for budgeting reforms to address the debt crisis. He proposes going to a biennial budgeting, add incentives for avoiding government shutdowns, and the elimination of budget gimmicks.lankford3

“There are a lot of wish list items in the president’s budget. It also includes about $3.4 trillion in new taxes over the next ten years. It increases spending by $2.5 trillion over the next ten years, including next year. Challenges in the president’s spending plan: it increases spending so much that we also continue to increase the deficit, the debt, and our interest payments. This body should realize that on current track, the Congressional Budget Office and the president’s budget that he released today forecast that within the next ten years, the United States of America will spend more on interest on our debt than we spend on national defense. I want everyone to soak that in. Within ten years, the federal taxpayer will spend more on interest on our debt, our debt payments, than we spend on national defense,” said Lankford.

Congressman Tom Cole is a member of the House Committee on the Budget. He said the President’s budget only adds to the national debt.

cole1“After seven long years under the Obama Administration, it should come as no surprise that the president’s final budget proposal reflects how out of touch he is with economic reality,” said Cole. “While the nation’s debt continues to climb at an alarming rate, the president ignored and missed yet another opportunity to recommend serious reforms to pay it down. Instead of choosing to lead America toward a path of fiscal responsibility, the president has again offered a wish list that taxes too much, spends too much and never ever, ever balances. This politically and philosophically unrealistic proposal, which adds nearly $7 trillion to the already high debt, stands absolutely no chance at becoming law—something the White House surely knows.”

He also notes the proposed $10 a barrel tax on oil comes at the wrong time and will likely have a negative effect.

“As our nation’s once-thriving energy industry continues to struggle and face setbacks, I am especially alarmed that the president wants to make matters worse by placing a $10 tax on every barrel of crude oil. This ridiculous tax would certainly lead to many more valuable jobs lost and directly impact families and households across the entire country by increasing the cost of everything that every American purchases.”

inhofe1Senator Jim Inhofe calls the budget proposal more evidence that President Obama is not looking out of the best interest of Americans.

“The president has been using his budget proposals to create a legacy of destroying fossil fuels and reducing our military and influence in the world. His proposals never balance and consistently expose his misguided spending priorities that both parties in Congress have fought to reverse and correct. The president’s last budget is nothing new. In fact, it is already being disregarded in Congress as neither the Senate or House Budget Committees will be inviting the OMB Director to testify. Congress will instead move forward on crafting a serious budget that represents the interests of the American people,” said Inhofe.

 

See Lankford’s Senate Speech Here

 


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