Guest blog post by Rep. Paul Broun, M.D. (GA)

My constituents in Georgia, just like the rest of America, are trying their best to struggle through a deep recession in which 401(k)’s are shrinking and jobs are disappearing.  With this in mind, I am encouraged to work on a budget plan centered around fiscal responsibility, job creation and tax relief.

This week, I hope to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to create a budget that is affordable for my generation, my grandkids, and also those generations yet to come. Last week, my colleagues laid out ‘The Republican Road to Recovery’ that will serve as a blueprint to create policies that give American taxpayers and entrepreneurs the tools they need to restart America’s economic engine: permanent tax relief and job creation incentives. 

The American people cannot afford the President’s budget that increases our national debt by more than three trillion dollars over the next five years – an amount unprecedented in our nation’s history.  It contains $1.9 billion in tax increases that will impact almost every American and small business.  Included in these tax increases is a new energy tax that will reduce Georgian’s disposable income by $941.  In these tough economic times, we should be putting money back in the peoples’ pockets instead of taking more out.   Additionally, Georgia is expected to lose 41,358 to 62,213 jobs in 2020 and 116,703 to 155,349 jobs in 2030 with this shoddy energy tax that impacts everyone: the rich, the middle-class and the poor.

Last year, I was on the House floor fighting for a 21st century American energy plan that produced American energy with American workers.  They erroneously call us the “party of no,” but liberals have closed the door on clean coal, safe offshore drilling and nuclear energy.  However, they are clearly comfortable raising the cost of energy on hardworking Americans.  In Georgia, the price of gasoline would increase between 74% and 145% by 2030, while electricity prices would increase by 103% to 135%.

The bottom line is that Americans deserve a better product and I’m pleased that my colleagues have offered a blueprint today that curbs spending, lowers taxes, controls the debt, and ultimately creates jobs and restores America’s entrepreneurial spirit.