House Republicans saw their budget dreams go up in smoke as President Obama is already signaling that he will veto the unpopular, but freshly passed House budget.
In a statement the White House said:
Budgets are about priorities. This evening the House Republicans made clear that once again their priority is to cut taxes for millionaires and billionaires and return our economy to the same top-down economics that has failed the American people before. House Republicans voted in favor of locking in draconian sequestration cuts to investments in the middle class like education, job training, and manufacturing. House Republicans also failed to responsibly fund our national security, opting instead for budget gimmicks.
The Republican priorities stand in stark contrast to the President’s plan to reverse sequestration and bring middle-class economics into the 21st Century. Through critical investments needed to accelerate and sustain economic growth in the long run, including in research, education, training, and infrastructure, the President’s Budget shows what we can do if we invest in America’s future and commit to an economy that rewards hard work, generates rising incomes, and allows everyone to share in the prosperity of a growing America.
The President has been clear that he will not accept a budget that locks in sequestration or one that increases funding for our national security without providing matching increases in funding for our economic security. The Administration will continue to abide by these principles moving forward.
The budget showdown between President Obama and Congressional Republicans could be the most significant budget battle since then President Bill Clinton vetoed the Republican budget in 1995. At the time of his veto, Clinton said, “With this veto, the extreme Republican effort to balance the budget through wrongheaded cuts and misplaced priorities is over. Now it’s up to all of us to go back to work together to show we can balance the budget and be true to our values and our economic interests.”
Both President Clinton and President Obama mentioned priorities for a reason. The budget is never about dollars. Budgets are about ideology and priorities. The 2015 Republicans are repeating the behavior of the 1995 Republicans. They are trying to use the budgetary process to force their ideology on a Democratic president. The stage is being set for an epic budget throwdown the likes of which the country has seen in almost two decades.
President Obama message to Speaker Boehner and Majority Leader McConnell is clear. If the Republicans want a budget fight, they’ve got it.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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