[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 48 (Thursday, April 11, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2586-S2587]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         THE PRESIDENT'S BUDGET

  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, today I wish to share a startling fact with 
the American public. For the first time since the President has been 
required to submit a budget--since 1922, 91 years ago--the President 
failed to provide a budget proposal before the Senate passed one. This 
year the President's budget proposal was submitted to Congress 65 days 
late. And even with that extra time to find solutions that would 
jumpstart the economy, the budget proposed by the President continues 
the policies that have led to anemic economic growth and stagnant job 
creation--more taxes, more spending, more government.
  The last time we voted on the President's budget, it received zero 
votes. Let me repeat that--zero votes. Not even the members of his own 
party supported his budget. Since the President's budget is arriving 
after we have already taken up a budget here in the Senate, I doubt 
that we will vote on this proposal. But I don't think it's a stretch to 
say that a vote on this budget might obtain the same result.
  We have already heard cries from members of his own party that he is 
included proposals they don't like for example, a provision called 
``chained CPI'' that changes the inflation measurement for many Federal 
programs, such as Social Security, and for certain provisions of the 
tax code. The President's budget estimates that this provision will 
reduce the deficit by nearly $230 billion over 10 years. And a budget 
such as the President's that raises taxes by nearly $1 trillion over 
the next 10 years--and that is in addition to the $600 billion in tax 
increases that went into effect earlier this year certainly will not 
win over any members on my side of the aisle. While there are some 
provisions in this budget I might support, the budget taken as a whole 
is a far cry from what we need to get the country on the right fiscal 
path.
  The President and his party like to talk about a so-called ``balanced 
approach.'' But there is nothing balanced about a budget proposal that 
raises taxes by nearly $1 trillion and can't even balance. That is 
right the President's budget does not balance in any of the next 10 
years. What we really need is a budget that gets us to balance and puts 
us on a path to start paying down our country's $16 trillion debt. We 
have to start paying down the debt.
  The President's budget proposal would increase taxes as a percent of 
the Nation's total output, or GDP, each year over the next 10 years, 
resulting in revenues as a percent of GDP at 20 percent in fiscal year 
2023. The average rate over the past 40 years has been approximately 18 
percent of GDP. The U.S. has balanced the budget 12 times since World 
War II. The average revenue for those 12 years was 18 percent of GDP. 
These numbers tell the story--our problem is not that we tax too little 
but that we spend too much. I have introduced a bill called the Penny 
Plan that cuts spending by one percent for each of the next three 
years, and balances the budget in 2016. Our Nation owes over $16 
trillion and no one is talking about reducing it. We have to get to 
balance--the sooner the better--and start paying down the debt.
  I am very disappointed, but not surprised, that the President yet 
again has not taken the opportunity to fully address the drivers of our 
growing deficits and debt spending programs such as Medicare and Social 
Security. The President won his re-election last year. The time for 
campaigning is over; it is time to start governing and make the tough 
choices to save these programs for current and future beneficiaries.
  I said this during the debate on the majority's budget resolution a 
few weeks ago, and it is worth repeating now we need to grow the 
economy, not the government. One of the ways we can grow the economy is 
by reforming our outdated tax code. We have to lower tax rates and 
broaden the tax base and make the tax code simpler and fairer for all 
taxpayers. I was happy to see the President's budget call for revenue-
neutral business tax reform. But then I read the fine print and 
realized the President was calling for lowering the corporate tax rate 
only and by paying for it by increasing taxes on U.S. multinational 
companies and oil and gas companies. I agree we need to lower the 
corporate tax rate. We also need to fix our outdated international tax 
system so we don't hamper our U.S. multinational companies from 
competing globally. And I have an international tax reform bill that 
addresses those issues. But in addition to lowering the corporate tax 
rate, we have to ensure we address the taxes paid by so-called ``flow-
through'' businesses these are the partnerships, S-corporations, and 
limited liability companies. Just fixing the corporate side doesn't 
help the millions of businesses structured as flow-through entities. I 
appreciate the President wanting to do revenue-neutral corporate tax 
reform. But that only addresses part of the problem.
  I generally don't like to do things ``comprehensively.'' We should do 
legislation in smaller parts so people can understand what is in them 
and can vote for and against the things they support and don't support. 
But given the interaction between the individual and corporate side of 
the tax code, we really need to look at them together and make sure 
changes we make in one area don't make things worse in another area.
  So now we have finally seen the President's budget proposal. And 
while there are a few good things in it, I am sorry to tell my 
constituents back in Wyoming and the American public that the President 
has yet again failed to

[[Page S2587]]

seize the opportunity to move the country's economy forward. It is more 
taxes, more spending, more government. That is not the recipe for 
growing the economy. I hope that over the coming months the President 
and his party will work with me and the Members on my side of the aisle 
to fix our tax code, both individual and corporate, and reform our 
spending on programs such as Medicare and Social Security. The American 
people deserve nothing less.

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