Crapo: Budget Increases Both Spending And Taxes

Washington, DC - Noting that President Barack Obama's new budget proposals seek an increase in both federal spending and taxes, at a time when Idahoans are having to cut back on their family budget, Idaho Senator Mike Crapo called for new bipartisan efforts to find a path forward that will be better for the economy and taxpayers. Crapo, a member of both the Senate Budget and Finance Committees, said the Fiscal Year 2010 proposal would double the debt owed by U.S. taxpayers in five years.

"I don't doubt the President's sincerity and remain willing to work with him to craft a plan to deal with our economic crisis, but we can't spend more than $3 trillion, raise taxes and expect the private sector to respond with new job creation," Crapo said. "We can't spend ourselves into prosperity and leave mountains of debt to future generations. This proposal can be improved, and both Democrats and Republicans need to work together to craft a plan that encourages small businesses to create jobs, not punish them for being successful."

Crapo pointed to positives in the President's proposal. "The President has promised to go through the budget line by line, to eliminate the programs that do not work or do not effectively spend taxpayer dollars," he said. "Unfortunately, the document we received today, while very thorough in describing spending increases, is very light on proposed spending cuts. Those ideas must be fleshed out. In the meantime, I remain concerned that tax increases on business and those who invest in our economy will hamper our recovery efforts. Retirees will be among those hardest hit by plans to increase capital gains taxes. Job creation will be stymied by new higher taxes and increased debt, which crowds out private sector investment."