[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 68 (Thursday, April 26, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H4180]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   DEMOCRAT BUDGET: ``RESERVE FUNDS''

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, the American public deserves to have all the 
facts about the Democrats' $3 trillion budget resolution.
  On the surface, it looks great, more money for program after program, 
all the while balancing the budget. If it sounds too good to be true, 
it's because it is.
  This budget funds a wish list of spending with so-called reserve 
funds. On paper, these reserve funds appear to designate funding for 
billions of dollars in Federal spending. But the fact is they are 
empty, little more than a clever gimmick to help balance the books, a 
shell game.
  In order to fund them, offsets would have to be found elsewhere or 
taxes would have to be raised. Since their plan doesn't include 
offsets, that leaves only one option, tax hikes.
  In other words, the Democrats are asking Americans to tighten their 
belts so that Uncle Sam can loosen his. Congress has serious fiscal 
challenges to solve, but tax hikes and budget gimmicks are not the 
right answer.

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