Setting the Record Straight: Democrats Are Proposing Billions in Unnecessary Government Spending

No Nation Has Ever Taxed And Spent Its Way To Prosperity

"Democrats are at it again. They want to fatten the upcoming Federal budget by $22 billion, saying it will have 'virtually no difference on the deficit.' No difference except $205 billion in additional spending over the next five years. No difference except the largest tax increase in history. No difference other than taking more of your earnings, so you'll have to work longer to pay the bills. The President won't stand for that. He'll veto any bill that doesn't hold the line on spending and achieve his goal of balancing the budget in the next five years."

– White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, 7/9/07

Rep. David Obey (D-WI) claims additional spending proposed by the Democrats would have "virtually no difference on the deficit." (Brendan Murray and Brian Faler, "Bush, Democrats Seek 'Very Big Fight' With Each Other On Budget," Bloomberg, 7/9/07)

The Democrats' Spending Proposals Are Significant And Excessive

• The Democrats propose spending $22 billion more than the President's Budget requested for FY 2008, which is an increase in discretionary spending of more than 9 percent over last year or three times the rate of inflation. This stands in contrast to the President's Budget, which restrains the growth of annual domestic spending while investing in national priorities like security, energy, health care, and education.
  
  
  
  • The Democrats propose $205 billion in additional domestic spending over the next five years.
    
    
    
  • The Democrats' proposal adds to the $17 billion in unrequested spending they added to the war supplemental.

• The Democrats' proposal includes the largest tax increase in history. Failing to extend the President's tax relief means working families will face higher taxes.

• Despite their earlier rhetoric, the Democrats' proposal does nothing to address the Nation's greatest long-term budgetary challenge – the unsustainable and uncontrolled growth in entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security. The Democrats' abdication of responsibility in this area makes it even more important to exercise restraint in annually appropriated discretionary spending.

The President's Agenda Will Help Keep America's Economy Strong, Flexible, And Dynamic

• President Bush's FY 2008 Budget lays out a detailed plan to balance the budget by 2012 while keeping taxes low. The President's Budget keeps annual spending under control and begins to address the unsustainable growth in entitlement programs.

• Strong economic growth has helped produce record levels of tax revenue, which is helping reduce the Federal deficit and meet our goal of a balanced budget. Record tax revenues helped us reach the President's goal of cutting the deficit in half three years ahead of schedule. Receipts have increased nearly 35 percent since the tax relief was fully implemented in 2003, and the deficit has declined by $165 billion in the last two years.

• The President will veto appropriations bills that threaten deficit reduction with overspending. The Administration supports the responsible spending level outlined in the President's FY 2008 Budget to achieve the goal of a balanced budget by 2012.