Sessions Leads Budget Fight for Conservatives

Senator Jeff Sessions delivered opening remarks yesterday evening as the debate began on the Senate Democrats’ budget proposal, the first budget they have offered in four years. The budget debate is expected to continue for the next few days, and Senator Sessions will be managing the debate for Republicans as the Ranking Member on the Budget Committee.

“There is no greater symbol of the arrogance of those in power than the refusal of the Senate Democrat majority to produce a budget resolution these last four years,” Sessions said in his remarks. “Our friends in the majority speak of their deep concern for struggling Americans yet, year after year, they offered no financial plan to help them.”

Sessions told me when we spoke on WAPI several weeks ago that the reason Democrats have not produced a budget for the past four years is that they did not want to expose themselves to the criticism that comes from putting forth a plan. Yesterday he pointed out the curious timing of the current budget proposal. “Why do we have a budget on the floor now? The answer is a simple one: the House of Representatives passed legislation called No Budget, No Pay,” Sessions said. “Then—and only then—Senate Democrats relented.”

Here are a couple of other quick highlights from Sessions’ remarks:

“The budget before us today is a bankrupt vision that will bankrupt the country. It is a jaded tax-and-spend budget that surges our nation’s debt and achieves no reduction in our annual deficits. It is a budget that never balances — never.”

“Any Senator who votes for this budget apparently believes the government is perfect and requires no reform. Any Senator who votes for this budget is saying to the American people: ‘Washington is not the problem, you’re the problem.’ They’re saying: ‘We’ve managed the money well. The problem, you see, is you. You haven’t sent us enough money.’”

The numbers on the Senate Democrats’ fiscally insane budget are mind-boggling:

· 60 percent spending increase over 10 years
· $162 billion spending increase next year
· $7.3 trillion in new federal debt over 10 years
· $1.5 trillion tax increase
· 80 percent increase in federal welfare and means-tested poverty spending

A paper produced last year by economists Rogoff and Reinhart concluded that when gross debt reaches 90 percent of GDP, the economy slows between one and two percent. This is significant when you consider that a one percent decline in growth costs one million jobs. The United States’ gross debt currently sits at 103 percent of GDP. With that in mind, it’s no wonder that we’re in the midst of the slowest recovery since the end of World War II.

Senator Sessions has been leading the charge for conservatives on a wide range of issues over the last few months — from warning against amnesty to taking on Obama’s nominees in confirmation hearings. But his fight for future generations of Americans in these budget battles may be his most important stand yet. The country would be in a lot better shape if we sent a lot more like Jeff Sessions to represent us in D.C.

Check out Senator Sessions’ passionate plea for a balanced budget in the short video below.