[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 1303-1304]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             THE 2011 BUDGET IS A SPENDING AND DEBT TSUNAMI

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, last week President Obama unveiled his new 
budget for fiscal year 2011. I am afraid this budget will result in 
more of the same runaway spending that led to a record $1.4 trillion 
deficit last year. Just like the budget the President introduced a year 
ago, this budget spends too much, taxes too much, and borrows too much. 
It includes $3.8 trillion in Federal spending for 2011, a record high. 
It projects a $1.6 trillion deficit, a record high. It assumes $2 
trillion in tax hikes over the next 10 years, a record high. And it 
estimates $14 trillion in government debt that will be inherited by our 
children and grandchildren. In fact, the President's budget will more 
than double the Federal Government's public debt.
  One of the most touted parts of this budget is its call for a 
spending freeze, which is a good idea. Just like the millions of 
Americans who have adjusted their budgets, the Federal Government 
should respond to record deficits by halting its spending expansion. 
But unfortunately, this budget freeze is merely papering over our 
record Federal deficits. Instead of a meaningful freeze, the proposed 
freeze in the budget covers only one-eighth of the Federal budget. That 
means that more than 80 percent of the Federal Government will continue 
to grow under this so-called freeze.
  A freeze that allows the vast majority of programs to stay on the 
path of unsustainable growth will not solve our budget problems. And so 
this budget predicts another year of record deficits. More than one in 
three dollars spent by the Federal Government next year will be 
borrowed. With such astonishing deficits and debt, we need much more 
than a freeze on one-eighth of government spending.
  We should be taking a hard look for underperforming areas where we 
can reduce spending. Congress could also start tackling our debt 
problem by immediately passing strict budget caps that will limit 
Federal spending each year. Unfortunately, this looks unlikely to 
happen also. Instead, Democrats in Congress, along with President 
Obama, appear to be dead set on pushing a trillion-dollar government 
takeover of health care and another multibillion-dollar stimulus plan.
  Just last week, Democrats in Congress showed their true colors by 
passing a $1.9 trillion increase in the national debt limit, making way 
for more deficit spending. After all, reckless spending requires 
reckless borrowing. Federal spending on so-called discretionary 
programs increased 84 percent over the past 2 years. These increases 
have been financed entirely by new debt. The time has come to stop 
these out-of-touch spending increases so we don't have to keep jacking 
up the national debt.
  The President's budget lacks the sort of spending accountability 
Americans

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want from Washington. It contains more spending, more debt, and more 
taxes, which will not restore our economy or help the unemployed in 
North Carolina and around the country find work. Government growth and 
exploding debt are just more of the same big government policies that 
Americans are weary of watching in Washington. While President Obama's 
budget does get some things right, it unfortunately gets most things 
wrong. As North Carolina taxpayers continue to tighten their belts, we 
can do better than $1.6 trillion in new debt for more wasteful 
Washington spending.
  Republicans are ready to go line by line through the Federal budget 
to cut wasteful spending. The debts Congress is racking up are not 
going to go away if we don't get a handle on spending. And during a 
time of double digit unemployment, the American people want solutions 
that will encourage economic growth and help create jobs, not just more 
debt for our children and grandchildren to pay off.
  Madam Speaker, we cannot borrow, spend, and tax our way back to a 
growing economy.

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