Lewis, Camp, and Ryan Call for Bi-Partisan Effort to Hold Spending to 2008 Levels, Stop Devastating Tax Increases

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. -  House Appropriations Ranking Republican Jerry Lewis, along with Ways and Means Ranking Republican Dave Camp and Budget Committee Ranking Republican Paul Ryan, sent a joint letter today to their respective Democrat Chairmen requesting an immediate, bipartisan effort to cut government spending back to 2008 levels, and stop pending tax hikes on all Americans.

 

The request reflects a plan announced by Republican Leader Boehner to rein in the rampant government spending that has been approved by the Democrat Majority over the last several years, and stop the expiration of tax cuts that would raise taxes on most Americans and have a devastating effect on the nation’s still-recovering economy.

 

“The Democrat Majority has failed to pass a budget, and have so far failed to enact a single Appropriations bill this year. In this total absence of responsible fiscal leadership, there is now an opportunity for Democrats and Republicans to work together to do the right thing by the American people – dial back unsustainable and unnecessary government spending and stop job-killing tax hikes,” Lewis said.

 

The letter requests that Chairmen Obey, Levin, and Spratt work with the three Ranking Members to “enact legislation this month that cuts federal spending back to 2008 levels for the next year, and provides certainty for small businesses by freezing all tax rates at their current levels for the next two years.”

 

The letter also states that, “The spending cuts would be enacted now, to avert the possibility of Congress using a lame duck session to pass a bloated spending bill for next year after the November elections”.

 

 

 

 

Dear Chairmen:

 

Last week, House Republicans set forth a blueprint for bipartisan action that can be enacted this month to help our nation's economy get back to creating jobs.  We write today to formally request that we begin talks immediately on such legislation, with the aim of sending it to the president's desk for signature before Congress adjourns this fall.

 

It is painfully clear that excessive spending by government – coupled with the looming threat of a tax hike on January 1 that the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation confirms will raise taxes on 50 percent of the small business income in America – is crushing private-sector job creation in our country.  If both parties are serious in the pledges we have made to focus on jobs, it is critical that legislators on both sides of the aisle come together and use what time remains in this Congress to enact legislation that removes these harmful barriers to private-sector job creation. 

 

To this end, Republicans have proposed that we come together in a bipartisan way to enact legislation this month that cuts federal spending back to 2008 levels for the next year, and provides certainty for small businesses by freezing all tax rates at their current levels for the next two years.  The spending cuts would be enacted now, to avert the possibility of Congress using a lame duck session to pass a bloated spending bill for next year after the November elections, and would include common-sense exceptions for programs affecting our seniors, veterans, and national security.

 

Leaving town at the end of this month or early next month without acting on both of these priorities would send a grim signal to the American people that this Congress and the Obama administration are still not focused on the critical issue of jobs.  We write today to ask that bipartisan discussions begin immediately to lay the groundwork for bipartisan action this month on the economic plan outlined above.

 

Sincerely,