Statement by Ron Paul on the Latest House GOP Budget Plan

LAKE JACKSON, Texas — Congressman and 2012 GOP Presidential candidate Ron Paul issued the following statement today regarding the latest budget proposal by the House Republican leadership. See comments below.

"Today, the House Republican leadership released a budget meant to be an alternative to President Obama's budget plan, which was filled with more debt, more deficits, and more taxing and spending. Unfortunately, the House Republican proposal doesn't go far enough to address the extreme fiscal problems we face as a nation.

"The House GOP's budget proposal does not balance the budget until the year 2040, and it adds billions to our already exploding deficits. In fact, this budget doesn't actually 'cut' any spending. It only reduces assumed increases in spending — essentially playing the same game the Washington establishment has played for years with our hard-earned money.

"As Sen. Jim DeMint recently noted: "This idea that we have to look 30 years out to balance the budget is not only unnecessary, but it's improbable. We cannot continue to spend at our current rate for 10 more years, much less 20 or 30 more years."

"What is really disappointing is that the GOP budget assumes that the federal government should continue to do everything, or at least almost everything, it is currently doing. We will never have a balanced federal budget, low taxes, economic prosperity, and individual liberty unless Congress stops trying to run the world, run the economy, and run our lives.

"If Republicans really want to win in November, they will have to draw a clear distinction between themselves and Obama's disastrous agenda. And producing a budget that does not seriously address our nation's debt crisis will not distinguish them at all in the eyes of the American people.

"Americans are looking for serious solutions, not more of same. In order to reject the status quo, lawmakers in Congress must act boldly and decisively on fiscal matters by adopting measures like those found in my own 'Plan to Restore America.' My plan actually cuts $1 trillion in spending in one year, and it sets the stage for serious reforms in entitlements while preserving benefits for seniors and the dependent. My plan also eliminates five unconstitutional cabinet departments, including the departments of Education and Energy. Additionally, my plan reduces the corporate tax rate to 15 percent, makes permanent the Bush-era tax cuts, and ends taxes on individual savings and repatriated capital. And it would balance the budget in only three years.

"This is what a serious budget proposal looks like. Any proposal that doesn't cut real spending and adds to the deficit isn't one that will get us out of this mess and back on track.

"Of the five men seeking the office of President, I am the only one who has offered a serious plan with real cuts and a real path to economic prosperity."