From the office of House Republican Leader John Boehner:
Washington Democrats remain divided and indifferent towards proposing a budget, missing a valuable opportunity to provide the fiscal discipline economists say is needed to create jobs and grow our economy. It also sends a terrible signal to the American people and the international community that the federal government has no plan to address its fiscal crisis. Democrats refuse to listen to the American people, who want us to work together to stop the out-of-control spending spree and focus on helping small businesses create jobs. A responsible budget would be a good place to start.
Here’s a look at some of the consequences of Washington Democrats’ budget failure:
1. A missed opportunity to create jobs. For families and small businesses, Democrats’ budget failure means a missed opportunity to provide the fiscal discipline economists say is needed to create jobs and grow our economy.
2. Sends “the worst possible signal” that the federal government “has no plan” to address its fiscal crisis. With our national debt set to hit $13 trillion any day now, Democrats still have no credible plan to address our budget crisis. Bob Bixby, head of the non-partisan Concord Coalition, said recently: “Failure to adopt a budget resolution when fiscal resolution is needed most would send the worst possible signal. It would say to investors in Treasury securities, foreign and domestic, that the federal government is still in denial about its fiscal problems and has no plan to address the situation anytime soon.”
3. A historic failure of leadership. According to the non-partisan Congressional Research Service, the House has never failed to pass a budget resolution in the modern era. It was Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) who described the budget in 2006 as “the most basic responsibility of governing,” and Budget Chairman John Spratt (D-SC) who said that same year, “if you can’t budget, you can’t govern.”
4. Tax hikes on the middle class and small businesses? The Heritage Foundation has noted that “not passing a budget means not carving out budgetary priorities for any extension of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, even for low-income families. Thus, avoiding steep tax increases during this recession will be more legislatively difficult.”