Ross statement on Rules Package
January 5, 2011
Today, Congressman Mike Ross (D-AR), co-chair of the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, issued the following statement on the proposed rules package for the 112th Congress:
"For years the Blue Dogs led the fight to restore the same, proven pay-as-you-go rules that brought about the surpluses of the 1990's. Last year we saw those efforts come to fruition when statutory PAYGO was signed into law.
"We need to cut the fat, and that means doing much more over the next two years to eliminate federal programs that are outdated or just don't work. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Blue Dog Coalition, and across the aisle, to continue paying for our priorities by identifying and eliminating wasteful government spending.
"But we have to pay for all of our priorities. This is not the time to resort to the same failed policies that got us in this mess in the first place.
"PAYGO has been successful in the past because it treats all spending the same – if it adds to the deficit, it has to be paid for. Period. This rules package, while there are a lot of good things in it, threatens to undermine all of the hard work we have done by allowing nearly $5 trillion in government spending to go unpaid for. That's $5 trillion the Republicans want to add to the national debt.
"Furthermore, stripping the authority of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office to determine a bill's cost unnecessarily politicizes the process at a time when both Republicans and Democrats should be putting down the partisan talking points and coming together to do what's in the best interest of this country.
"For years the Blue Dogs led the fight to restore the same, proven pay-as-you-go rules that brought about the surpluses of the 1990's. Last year we saw those efforts come to fruition when statutory PAYGO was signed into law.
"We need to cut the fat, and that means doing much more over the next two years to eliminate federal programs that are outdated or just don't work. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Blue Dog Coalition, and across the aisle, to continue paying for our priorities by identifying and eliminating wasteful government spending.
"But we have to pay for all of our priorities. This is not the time to resort to the same failed policies that got us in this mess in the first place.
"PAYGO has been successful in the past because it treats all spending the same – if it adds to the deficit, it has to be paid for. Period. This rules package, while there are a lot of good things in it, threatens to undermine all of the hard work we have done by allowing nearly $5 trillion in government spending to go unpaid for. That's $5 trillion the Republicans want to add to the national debt.
"Furthermore, stripping the authority of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office to determine a bill's cost unnecessarily politicizes the process at a time when both Republicans and Democrats should be putting down the partisan talking points and coming together to do what's in the best interest of this country.
"I look forward to working with my colleagues in the House and Senate to make pay-as-you-go whole, and to keep moving this country forward in a way that puts us on a trajectory to fiscal and economic success. The Blue Dogs will continue our fight to pay for all of what we spend so that future generations do not have to pay the price."
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