McConnell on Obama’s Budget

U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following statement on the Senate floor Tuesday regarding the President’s FY2013 budget: 

“We’ve all had a little more time now to look at the President’s budget, and I have to say, the more one looks at it the harder it is to believe that this is the President’s considered response to the crisis we face.

 “President Obama knows better than anyone in this country that government spending and debt is out of control, and that America is headed down the same road as Europe. The budget was his chance to show it. 

 “Instead, he decided to basically pretend these problems don’t even exist, and to the extent that he does acknowledge them, to propose solutions that are either gimmicks or that he knows will never come to pass. Just to take two examples, he says he’ll bank savings by not fighting a war he already declared we wouldn’t be fighting. And he’d raise money with tax hikes that have been rejected eight times by both parties. 

“Oh, and by the way, forget the fact that government spends a trillion dollars a year more than it takes in. The President says government spending should be even higher. He significantly increases government spending. 

“This is what passes for leadership in this White House. 

“The President looks at our fiscal crises, throws together a plan that he knows is deceptive, and then goes on the road to sell it to captive audiences at high schools and colleges across the country.

“The failure of leadership here is breathtaking. 

“The President knows how grave our nation’s fiscal condition is. “When he thinks it helps him he even admits it. A year ago today, when debt and spending were in the news, he used his budget announcement to reiterate a pledge to cut the deficit in half. Here’s what he said:

‘..the only way we can make these investments in our future is if our government starts living within its means, if we start taking responsibility for our deficits.  That’s why, when I was sworn in as President, I pledged to cut the deficit in half by the end of my first term. The budget I’m proposing today meets that pledge.’   

“A year later, he hasn’t even come close. 

“Last month the President said he wanted an economy that’s built to last. What he’s given us instead is a blueprint for deficits built to last. “And he hasn’t done a thing to live up to his pledge to get our nation’s fiscal house in order. “He’s made it worse. 

“Last year’s budget wasn’t worth the paper it was printed on, and neither is this one. 

“The President’s job isn’t to tell people what he thinks they want to hear. It’s to explain the problems we face, unite people around a solution, and get the job done. 

“This President is failing the American people.

“The only question is how long it will take for that failure to catch up with us.”