Bridenstine Statement On Budget Deal

Congressman Jim Bridenstine Voted Against “Budget Deal”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 12, 2013

Congressman Bridenstine commented on his vote against the Ryan-Murray budget deal:

The Ryan Murray budget deal does not address our long term fiscal crisis. The U.S. debt and deficit must be dealt with in a meaningful way now. To put this bill into perspective, the Congressional Budget Office optimistically estimates $6.3 trillion (with a T) of new debt over the next 10 years. This bill would reduce the deficit by only $7 billion (with a B) during the same time. That’s only one tenth of one percent. The $23 billion deficit reduction reported in the media does not include $8 billion in additional interest payments or $8 billion for a Medicare amendment. Even the full $23 billion would shave off less than four tenths of one percent of the debt increase.

These very small savings are too distant to be realistic – deficit reductions are not achieved until nine years in the future and then only if a future Congress is more disciplined than this one.

In short, the Ryan-Murray budget kicks the can down the road and scuttles any real entitlement or fiscal reform for another two years. This deal separates Members of Congress further from the responsibility of controlling the budget.

Two achievements of this problematic bill are new spending and additional taxes. There is an added tax on airline travelers, and the revenue goes into the general revenue. As such, it is not a “fee” for the TSA as claimed. It is a tax.

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