Bucshon Releases Statement Slamming the President’s Proposed Budget

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Representative Larry Bucshon, M.D. (R-Ind.-08) released the following statement after President Biden unveiled his Fiscal Year 2024 budget proposal earlier today.

"President Biden is fond of saying 'show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value.' It's clear from the President's budget that he values growing Washington's budget at the expense of family and small business budgets on Main Street today and the future prosperity of our children and grandchildren tomorrow.

"The budget proposal issued today by President Biden would continue the reckless spending spree of the past two years, which has led to the largest rise in the cost of living in 40 years and a soaring national debt. Despite the fact that the federal government collected near-record revenues this past year, President Biden's budget calls for even more money to be taken from the wallets of Americans and businesses through new taxes. And yet, the President's budget still would result in trillion-dollar deficits each year for as far as the eye can see. In short, President Biden's does nothing to curb Washington's spending addiction and address our looming debt crisis, which will result in American families and businesses on Main Street ultimately drowning in a sea of Washington's red ink," concludedDr. Bucshon.

Specifically, the President's Budget would:

• Fuel today's inflation crisis with the highest sustained level of government spending in American history - a spending level that is $7 trillion more than what the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has projected over the next 10 years while giving a 12% average spending increase next year for non-defense federal agencies.
• Fuel America's debt crisis with the highest sustained level of deficits in American history - leading to $1.1 trillion yearly debt interest payments by 2032, a sum 1.5 times what we will spend on Medicare this year.
• Fuel a drag on America's economy with the highest sustained tax burden in American history - including $2.5 trillion in new taxes, rising up to $4 trillion when including hidden taxes from the Build Back Better (BBB) bill; $1.7 trillion in new taxes on job creators, or $2.5 trillion when including hidden taxes from BBB; and more than $800 billion in new taxes that fall on American families and small businesses, or $1.5 trillion when including hidden taxes from BBB. Such a tax burden would be in part responsible for the budget's 2.2 percent average projected economic growth that is 28 percent below the average growth of the last 75 years.
• Push America farther way from energy independence and further increase the pain at the pump with $45 billion in new taxes on domestic energy production and zero plans to resume the Keystone Pipeline or new domestic oil and natural gas leases.
• Deprioritize American security by providing non-defense agencies a 200 percent increase compared to the defense budget and continuing the Administration's catch-and-release policies at the border, which has seen 2.9 million encounters since President Biden took office.
• Embolden a federal takeover of America's education system through a 17 percent increase in Department of Education funding with zero prohibitions against subsidizing localities that continue to enforce school closures or require COVID vaccinations or mask mandates on children, schools that remain virtual, or schools that promote the teaching of critical race theory.
• Abuse an aspect of the budget process known as a "deficit-neutral reserve fund" to cover up the cost of President Biden's BBB agenda - an agenda CBO has confirmed would spend $5 trillion, add $3 trillion in debt, and increase taxes by $1.5 trillion.