Crapo: We Need to Get Our Spending Under Control

Washington, D.C.--In an interview with Larry Kudlow on Fox Business, U.S. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) discussed the success of 2017 Republican tax reform, and the need for spending reform proposals to be put forward and debated on a bipartisan basis, emphasizing that the key is “less spending, less taxing, less regulation and less inflation.”   

 On how spending is not the problem:  

“[T]he president added $4.8 trillion to our deficit in the last two years and is refusing so far to talk about any kind of fiscal responsibility.  Revenues are not the problem.  The TCJA from 2017 needs to be made permanent, and we need to focus on less spending, less taxing, less regulating and less inflating.”   

On the need for regular order:  

“[A]n approach that puts some parameters, some gates on Congress’s spending would be very much appreciated.  I also liked what the Speaker just said, that they made some progress toward the notion of having regular order in the Senate and the House--doing all of our budget and appropriations bills without an omnibus spending bill, and creating some process protections that would help us control the spending as well.”  

On specific spending reform proposals:  

“[W]e’ve already had some caucuses to discuss these issues, but remember, this is going to start in the House.  We’re not in a position to tell the Speaker what to do, but we are in a position to work with the Speaker to help him understand what kind of support the Senate could bring to his endeavor.  In the end, we’re going to be working and very heavily engaged in this as a Senate caucus and you will see as you talk to other Republican senators, there are Republican senators with very good ideas about how to approach this, and we’re going to be pitching these ideas.  

…  

“[T]he bottom line is some kind of the restrictions you just discussed, or like the Budget Control Act that we put into place.  I’m very supportive of a balanced budget amendment that would put some constitutional protections and process requirements in place.  Either way, we’ve got to recognize that revenue is not the problem and we need to make the TCJA permanent, and we’ve got to go back to the strong economy we had when we passed the TCJA in 2017.  Then we need to focus on spending, reducing regulations and eliminating inflation.”  

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