Fiscal and Economic

My amendment takes all the policy reforms in the budget resolution and writes those savings into the reconciliation instructions. This does not change a single recommendation that we have been debating. It simply implements them – about $3.55 trillion over ten years after removing interest payments and non-reconcilable items under the Byrd Rule.

This is a combination of appropriations bills that funds the legislative branch, the Veteran’s Administration, energy, water and military construction. Like any large, omnibus bill it has good features, among them: it proceeds with the long overdue Yucca Mountain nuclear storage facility, repeals the Obama Administration’s WOTUS order (which was already struck down by the courts), shifts $1 billion of mandatory spending to discretionary and upgrades our nuclear arsenal. But it is a fiscal train wreck. It continues the Congress’ profligate spending that threatens...

I have offered this amendment whenever the opportunity has presented itself, because it tests whether there is any program in the federal budget that Congress can bear to cut.

In December, we adopted one of the most important tax reform laws in our nation’s history. It is producing higher wages, better job opportunities, and greater economic expansion than we’ve seen in a decade. But having cut taxes, we assumed an urgent responsibility to restrain spending. Taxes and debt are two sides of the same coin. A debt is simply a future tax. Once we’ve spent a dollar, we’ve already decided to tax it, either now or in the future. It’s the spending that’s the problem.

It’s important to ask ourselves how the tax reform is doing, and I thank my colleague for organizing this time tonight. In my district, the average family is paying $1,900 LESS federal income tax this year – which means $1,900 MORE they can spend to meet their needs.

This is the $1.3 trillion “Omnibus” bill that increases discretionary spending a staggering 18 percent in a single year, puts us on course for a trillion dollar deficit next year and sets the stage for a sovereign debt crisis within the next few years.

For years, I’ve only been able to report to you what we SHOULD be doing to revive the economy. Today, FINALLY, I can report to you what we HAVE done – and THAT it is working.

This measure abandons any pretense of fiscal responsibility and increases federal spending caps by nearly $300 billion ($2,400 per household) over the next two years. It sets up a structure that will allow Congress to bypass its own budget rules...