Van Hollen warns of GOP plans to cut spending ‘blindly’

GOP plans to scale back federal spending will hinder
economic recovery efforts and increase unemployment, the senior Democrat on the
Budget Committee warned. 

House Republicans last week approved a resolution
instructing Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to cut spending this
year to 2008 levels or lower. But Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), the panel’s
ranking member, says that plan is a recipe for economic disaster.

“Democrats are committed to putting our fiscal house in
order, but we must also keep the economy strong by pursuing actions that will
create jobs and support working families,” Van Hollen said in a Jan. 31 letter
to House Democrats.

{mosads}“Blindly slashing investments in important priorities, as
proposed by our Republican House colleagues, will slow down our fragile
economic recovery and put more people out of work. The proposed cuts put our
Republican colleagues at odds with business leaders, economists, and the
President’s Bipartisan Fiscal Commission.”

Van Hollen’s concerns highlight the stark differences
between the two parties as Congress tries to nibble away at an unemployment
rate that remains above 9 percent.

For the past two years, Democrats addressed the crisis
through a series of temporary tax cuts and spending increases that have sent
annual deficits soaring. The Congressional Budget Office estimated recently
that the federal government will spend $1.5 trillion more than it will take in
for the fiscal year ending Oct. 1 — a figure expanded by the compromise
tax-cut package enacted in December.

In Jan. 2009, just before Obama took office, CBO estimated the year’s deficit would be $1.2 trillion.

Those stimulus efforts follow the Bush administration’s
bailout of Wall Street banks and other financial institutions, which was
supported by Democratic and Republican leaders alike.

Republicans more recently have railed against deficit
spending as an economic recovery strategy, arguing that the extra federal funds
have encroached on the private sector at the expense of jobs. 

“By spending money we don’t have, running up the huge budget
deficits, we create more uncertainty in the private sector,” House Speaker John
Boehner (R-Ohio) said on Fox News Sunday. “This is where cutting spending will
create jobs because it is going to bring greater fiscal responsibility here in
Washington, D.C., end some of the uncertainty, and allow jobs to be created in
America.”

As part of his State of the Union address, President
Obama last month proposed freezing discretionary spending at current levels
for the next five years. The White House will consider additional cuts put
forth by Republicans, Obama added, if the country “can honestly afford to do
without” that spending. 

“But let’s make sure that we’re not doing it on the backs of
our most vulnerable citizens,” Obama added. “And let’s make sure what we’re
cutting is really excess weight. 

“Cutting the deficit by gutting our investments in
innovation and education is like lightening an overloaded airplane by removing
its engine. It may feel like you’re flying high at first, but it won’t take
long before you’ll feel the impact.”

Van Hollen this week also urged Democrats to protect last
year’s healthcare reform law, which House Republicans voted to repeal last
month. That bill, the Maryland Democrat reminded colleagues, is estimated to reduce
deficit spending by $230 billion over the next decade.