Woodall Hosting Town Hall; Comments on Obama’s FY15 Budget

“President Obama’s budget is a very clear indicator of his priorities, and regrettably he has not demonstrated any intent to restore fiscal responsibility in Washington. His budget increases federal spending by $791 billion in the budget window and repudiates the budget agreement he signed into law just three months ago in December, exceeding its caps by $56 billion in 2015 alone. Since 2009, the federal government has borrowed an additional $6.8 trillion, and the President’s budget promises never to balance while adding another $8.3 trillion in debt over the next 10 years alone. There is never a shortage of discussion or disagreement on the allocation of federal dollars in Washington, but it is patently irresponsible for any budget to add over $8 trillion, certainly to an existing national debt of over $17 trillion.

We did not arrive at our current financial state overnight, but there must be a sincere effort on both sides of the aisle to confront Washington’s spending problem and correct the behavior that got us to this point. The President’s budget not only fails to move the nation in the direction of financial stability, but also worsens matters by saddling the next generation with nearly 50% more debt. In 2006, then-Senator Obama said of President Bush’s budgets, we are ‘shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.’ Then-Senator Obama was right to demand better from President Bush, and I am right to demand leadership from President Obama.”