Alabama lawmakers blast Obama's 'outside the realm of reality' budget proposal

From left to right: Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-AL1), and Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) (Photo: Yellowhammer)

WASHINGTON — Three members of Alabama’s Congressional delegation unloaded on President Obama’s budget proposal Monday, calling it “disappointing,” and “outside the realm of reality.”

Senators Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions and Congressman Bradley Byrne (R-AL1) spoke out Monday against the proposal, and they didn’t pull any punches.

“President Obama’s budget blueprint is once again full of more taxes, borrowing, and spending at a time when our focus should be on empowering the middle class – not Washington,” Sen. Shelby said in a release Monday. “It is disappointing, but not surprising, that the President put forth an unserious proposal today that would take our nation down an unsustainable path.”

“President Obama’s latest budget proposal just further demonstrates the President is governing outside the realm of reality,” Rep. Bradley Byrne said in his release. “Despite the American people soundly rejecting the President’s policies last year, he continues to advocate for the same tax more, spend more policies. The President’s proposal makes no serious commitment to reducing our $18 trillion dollar debt.”

“Tax, spend, borrow, regulate, and add to the debt does not work,” Sen. Sessions said. “Labor force participation is at a nearly a four-decade low, while average family incomes are down more than $4,000 since 2009. Wages fell 5¢ an hour in December 2014. The government is becoming bigger and more powerful, while working families are getting squeezed out. It’s time for a budget that puts working Americans—not Washington bureaucrats—first.”

The Obama administration’s proposal calls for nearly $4 trillion in spending and adds almost half a trillion to the federal debt. The budget includes $561 billion in military spending, but makes no proposals to reform Medicare or Social Security, despite the programs’ burgeoning costs.

The President’s plan also calls for an end to the so-called sequestration—the automatic spending cuts put in place by Congress in 2011.

Obama’s budget proposes to lower the deficit by a cumulative $1.8 trillion over the next decade—while still adding trillions to the federal debt over the same time period—by ramping up taxes on high earners, including a one-time 14% tax on profits earned abroad by US corporations. Future earnings would be taxed at 19%.

Despite promises to cut taxes for the middle class, Obama’s 2,000-page budget increases the capital gains tax, which is paid by many middle class Americans, including farmers.

GOP members of Congress are set to propose their own budget this Spring, which will almost certainly be at odds with the President’s.

“Instead of growing the federal government, the President should promote policies that support small businesses and empower American families,” Rep. Byrne said.

Sen. Shelby also added that the President’s budget is a reminder that the government must be forced by law to live within its means.

“I have long advocated for legislation that would require the federal government to do what hardworking Americans do every day – balance a budget,” Shelby said. “By reducing wasteful government spending and focusing on smart reforms to our nation’s tax code, I believe that we can restore confidence in our economy and foster job growth.”