WASHINGTON, D.C.- Congressman Theodore C. Jameson, as well as the other Democratic Representatives in Congress, are faced with a simple, yet difficult task in the upcoming days: Defend a balanced, well-rounded Federal Budget from the onslaught of Republican Attacks. With a slim majority, Speaker Emmett Honeycutt of Pennsylvania began debate on the Federal Budget this morning on Capitol Hill which was immediately followed by several amendments coming from the Republican Side of the Aisle. However, these amendments were not adding positive things to a balanced budget, but rather subtracting necessary items key to the Presidential Agenda that citizens elected back in November 2016. The House Majority Leader, Marcus Cavalier, has already led the Democrats into the battleground that the House of Representatives has become and Democratic Congresspeople are fighting to maintain their President’s flawless budget.
So what is it that makes this budget so great? The Federal Budget as introduced by the President includes:
- More than $10 billion in high energy cost relief grants
- $24 billion in disease research
- More than $75 billion in alternative energy programs
- More than $15 billion to help the struggling Housing industry
- The largest voluntary deposits into the Social Security Trust Fund in history
- The beginning of the President’s promise to reduce the Social Security portion of the payroll tax to 10% by 2025
- Largest increase in military pay in US history
- $221 billion surplus over four years
However, the Republican side of the Aisle is just not going to sit still and accept that the budget is perfect. The reasoning behind it is they simply cannot accept that the Budget was created and introduced by a Democratic President and his Cabinet. The Republicans that have introduced amendments, such as John Nolan (R-IL), Hilliam Warren (R-PA), and Dale Thomas (R-TX), are desperate to put a little bit of Conservatism into the entire budget process by amending the budget. However, these amendments would not improve the budget, but destroy the budget’s surplus it creates and possibly lead to a Government Shutdown. These Amendments by the Republicans are bad for the budget and bad for America. Facts about these amendments are:
- GOP amendments would risk a government shutdown
- GOP amendments would create a deficit
- GOP amendments would undermine national security by revealing classified programs
- GOP amendments would eliminate the JumpStart program that were part of the President’s election year mandate
- GOP amendments would eliminate new work incentives for social security recipients
- GOP amendments would eliminate payroll tax cuts
- GOP amendments would eliminate new veterans job training and hospital funds
- GOP amendments would force the Pentagon to buy systems it hasn’t requested
- GOP amendments drastically cuts road improvement funds and would stall road repair projects
- GOP amendments would eliminate new funds for the international program to catch criminals and terrorists
- GOP amendments would eliminate new funds for the program that markets American products to the world
- GOP amendments would eliminate billions of funds for rural housing and development programs
So why would a party who preaches fiscal conservatism, fiscal responsibility, and government accountability would risk a government shutdown just to create a Deficit? The Republicans in Congress have gone a long way since they lost the Majority in 2011, however the way they are going is obviously the wrong one. Congressman Jameson has voted against, and urges all his colleagues to vote against all the Republican Amendments to the Budget and get an unamended, strong, and surplus creating Budget to the Oval Office before risking a Government Shutdown.
