Representative Mike Kelly Co-Sponsors Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011
Representative Mike Kelly Co-Sponsors Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Representative Mike Kelly (PA-03) has co-sponsored the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011 (H.R. 2560), which was introduced today and will be brought to the House floor for a vote on Tuesday, July 19. The bill would cut total spending by $111 billion in FY 2012, including: 1) a reduction in non-security discretionary spending below 2008 levels, which saves $76 billion; and 2) $35 billion cut to non-veterans, non-Medicare, non-Social Security mandatory spending. The Department of Defense budget would remain at President Obama’s requested level.
In addition to spending cuts, the bill would place a cap on future spending to prevent a repeat of the current runaway spending that has led to three consecutive years of trillion dollar deficit spending. A fiscal year schedule of the proposed caps as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) is as follows:
Lastly, the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011 would require the passage of a Balanced Budget Amendment before raising the nation’s debt ceiling. Support for an increase in the debt ceiling will only be provided if a qualifying Balanced Budget Amendment is passed by Congress and is sent to the states for ratification. Representative Kelly issued the following statement on his co-sponsorship of the bill: “Our nation is dangerously in debt. We are nearly $14.3 trillion in the red and our debt deepens with each passing day. “In the past three years, Washington has been on a spending binge of epic proportions, running trillion-dollar deficits with no end in sight. Since President Obama took office, the national debt has increased by $3.7 trillion, which is the same amount of debt our nation accumulated between the years of 1776 to 1992. “Our spending addiction is destroying our economy and compromising our children’s future. While deep spending cuts are necessary to change the self-destructive path we’re on, they, in and of themselves, are not enough. In order to prevent Washington from ever-again wreaking such economic havoc on the American people, we need to cap future spending at levels that are within our economic means. “Yet, like spending cuts, caps on spending are not enough. We need to take one additional and non-negotiable step to ensure accountability in Washington: a Balanced Budget Amendment. Forty-nine states currently abide by some form of a balanced budget requirement and it’s time for the federal government to follow suit. “By amending the U.S. Constitution to control spending and enforce a balanced and disciplined approach to the federal budget, the government, which is of the people, by the people, and for the people, will also finally, and permanently, be accountable to them as well.” ### |