Republicans: Obama budget 'laughable'
For congressional Republicans, President Barack Obamaâs fiscal 2016 budget is âlaughable.â It âshamelessly panders to the Democratic base.â And itâs nothing more than a âlousy Groundhog Day repeat.â GOP lawmakers pulled out all the rhetorical jabs as they responded Monday to Obamaâs $4 trillion fiscal blueprint, which calls for boosting spending on government programs, doling out tax breaks for the middle class and ending the much-hated across-the-board budget cuts known as sequestration. Story Continued Below And the fact that Obamaâs budget rolled out on Groundhog Day made the references to the 1993 Bill Murray film irresistible for congressional Republicans. âIt may be Groundhog Day, but the American people canât afford a repeat of the same old top-down policies of the past,â House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said. âLike the presidentâs previous budgets, this plan never balances â ever.â Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) piled on: âItâs fitting that President Obama released his budget on Groundhog Day because itâs a painful repeat of the same failed policies that he has presented to Congress for the past six years.â And Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) called the budget âlaughable.â In a joint statement, Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) and Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), the chairs of the budget committee in their respective chambers, said they will produce a budget that balances within a decade. âA proposal that never balances is not a serious plan for Americaâs fiscal future, especially when we have to borrow money just to afford the programs we already have,â the lawmakers said. And influential GOP senators the president will have to work with almost universally panned the budget documentâs $4 trillion footprint, the tax policies that fund it and the lack of eventual balance between revenues and spending. âAfter six straight years of trying to have it all and losing control of both the House and Senate in the process, itâs time for the President to try something new: listening to the American people,â said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas. Republicans want to eliminate loopholes and broadly lower rates, while Obamaâs budget would add new taxes for high-income Americans and tax credits for people with low incomes. But the White House and Capitol Hill are clearly talking past each other on a key issue targeted for bipartisan collaboration. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) called Obamaâs budget a âretreadâ of past proposals that died instantly on the Hill and concluded it was âpartisan, not practicalâ â not a great reading for the prospects of a tax deal. And on infrastructure improvement, another bipartisan possibility over the next two years, Republicans shrugged at his idea of imposing a 14 percent tax on overseas corporate profits to shore up the countryâs struggling transportation networks. The general idea has merit, but Obamaâs tax rate is too high for Republicans. âMy colleagues and I believe we can create a new innovative financing tool and have the resources to fund a six-year year highway bill at lower repatriation rates,â said Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri. Instead, Obama and the GOP found common ground by not advocating for an increase in the gasoline tax, which has been stagnant since 1993. The instant flogging of Obamaâs budget by Republicans was a sign Republicans arenât ready to turn to helping middle-income families, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) concluded. âIf the GOP takes this budget and sticks it in a drawer, theyâll be making it crystal clear that theyâre more interested in helping special interests than middle class families,â he said. Ending up in a drawer might be understating things. Judging by the GOP reaction, the office shredder seems a safer bet. Quipped Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.): âPresident Obama likes to talk about his veto pen and with the release of this budget, we can only conclude that he writes with red ink.â