Last week, fiscal conservatives had reason to cheer as the Office of Management and Budget announced that this year’s federal budget deficit has dropped to $205 billion-the lowest deficit in five years.
Thanks to the pro-growth policies of previous Republican Congresses, the deficit will be nearly $40 billion lower than originally projected. I believe that this reduction highlights the strength of our economy and the success found in trusting the American people with their own money. Lower taxes have spurred economic growth, increasing tax receipts and driving down the deficit:
- Since 2001, the economy has grown for 22 consecutive quarters with real GDP growth averaging 2.9 percent a year.
- Job creation has thrived as 8.2 million jobs have been created since the 2003 tax relief, driving our nation’s unemployment rate to a continued historic low of 4.5 percent.
- While a Republican Congress provided tax relief for Americans, tax receipts actually increased by more than 37 percent in the last three years, further curtailing the deficit.
However, in this Congress, House Democrats have once again proven their commitment to tax-and-spend policies, calling for more than $200 billion in additional spending and burdening American families and businesses with nearly $400 billion in tax increases over the next five years. Future deficit reduction will be jeopardized unless the tax cuts passed in 2001 and 2003 are renewed and spending is restrained. The days of big government spending sprees and debilitating taxation must come to an end for the federal deficit to be erased.