COMMITTEE on WAYS and MEANS

With less than two weeks before the August 2 deadline to address the debt limit challenge or risk defaulting, President Obama still has yet to articulate a single spending cut he is willing to make in order to get our country back on a path to fiscal sustainability.  Since President Obama took office, he and Congressional Democrats have increased the debt $3.4 trillion with ineffective policies such as their failed stimulus.  

The President’s empty political rhetoric shows he is unwilling to lead and construct a proposal that addresses our spiraling debt and deficits.  Instead, President Obama has decided to skirt the issue by calling for one-off tax increases which will do very little to address the nation's $14.3 trillion debt and projected deficit for this year of $1.5 trillion.  Simply cherry-picking provisions out of the tax code will not lead to the economic growth that can be achieved by lowering rates, broadening the base and taking steps to overhaul the tax code in its entirety.  There is strong bipartisan agreement that comprehensive tax reform can provide the economic growth that we need.  But, in the absence of comprehensive reform, the President is just proposing to raise taxes.
 

The problem in Washington is not that we tax too little; it is that we spend too much.  The question is: When will the President put politics aside and bring a serious plan to the table to cut spending and get our fiscal house in order?