Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson, a member of the House Budget Committee, today challenged White House Budget Director Peter Orszag in a House Budget Committee hearing on the President’s Fiscal Year 2011 budget proposal. Congressman Simpson is an original cosponsor of H.J.Res. 1, which would amend the Constitution to require Congress to balance the budget annually.

Following a contentious back-and-forth dispute between the Democrats and Republicans on the Committee regarding which party is to blame for the current debt, Congressman Simpson addressed Dr. Orszag.

“If anybody wants to understand what the problem is in Washington, D.C., all they need to do is listen to the debate that’s gone on here, pointing fingers and trying to decide who’s to blame. The reality is the American people don’t care who’s to blame, they just want the problem solved.” Simpson continued, “This budget is not fiscally responsible over the long term, and what the American people are saying is we need to quit spending money, it’s that simple.”
 
After the hearing, Simpson added, “The people of Idaho have made their opinion loud and clear: they want their government to address the debt, and they want us to do so immediately. As I look over this budget, it strikes me the administration has not received the message. I don’t see enough serious efforts to cut spending and reduce the debt in this budget.”

The FY 2011 budget is the largest in American history. It spends $3.8 trillion and produces a deficit of $1.6 trillion, borrowing 42 cents for each dollar spent.  It will create a massive two trillion dollar tax increase over the next decade, an increase which still does not come close to covering the spending within the bill.

“The President’s proposal, though it is only a budget blueprint, illustrates why I believe we need a federal balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.  If Congress and the President, like any family, are forced to pay for every dollar spent in their budget, a new sense of fiscal responsibility would emerge.  These record deficits would stop building on each other, and Congress could actually start reducing our debt, which has ballooned to nearly unsustainable levels.”

The House Budget Committee will soon debate and mark-up the FY2011 federal budget.

To watch Congressman Simpson question Dr. Orszag, visit his YouTube page