Pelosi: 'False argument' to say Washington has spending problem

Pelosi: 'False argument' to say Washington has spending problem

Published February 11, 2013 FoxNews.com

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi claimed Sunday it is a "false argument" to say the federal government has a spending problem, in the latest shot across the bow to Republicans who couldn't disagree more.

Pelosi, in an interview with "Fox News Sunday," locked arms with President Obama in calling for Washington to avert a looming round of budget cuts -- by replacing them with a blend of cuts and tax hikes.

The cuts are set to kick in March 1 and will impact the Pentagon more than any other single department. Republicans want the package replaced with a less arbitrary slate of cuts. But Pelosi argued that more cuts would hurt the economy, and in turn do little to close the deficit.

"We have to recognize that, which cuts really help us and which cuts hurt our future? And cuts in education, scientific research and the rest are harmful, and they are what are affected by the sequestration," she said on "Fox News Sunday." "So, it is almost a false argument to say we have a spending problem. We have a budget deficit problem that we have to address."
It is without question that the federal government has a budget deficit problem. The annual deficit exceeded $1 trillion for each of the past four years, adding $6 trillion total to the national debt during President Obama's first term.

But Republicans argue that the gaping shortfall cannot be closed with tax increases alone -- and that, indeed, Washington has a rather severe spending problem.

Even many in the Democratic Party concede that the growth in entitlement spending -- on Medicare and other budget gobblers -- needs to be checked.
Some kind of agreement, even a short-term one, needs to be reached in the next few weeks to avoid $85 billion in arbitrary spending cuts next month. Pelosi stressed that Democrats want to increase revenue by closing loopholes, including those for oil companies, as opposed to raising tax rates.

Her argument is similar to the one President Obama is expected to restate Tuesday during his State of the Union address.

However, Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole said fellow House Republicans will "absolutely not" accept tax increases as part of a deal, which would trigger the cuts to federal defense and discretionary spending.
Cole told ABC News' "This Week" that the president refused to agree to spending cuts during the recent, so-called "fiscal cliff" negotiations so Democrats are not getting revenue increases now.

"I think (sequester) is inevitable, quite frankly," he said.
Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain also said Sunday that Republicans don't want tax increases, considering they just agreed to end more than $1 trillion in income tax breaks, but suggested he might be open to closing some tax loopholes.

He also urged both parties to work together to avoid sequester, which will result in big cuts to the defense budget and roughly $1.2 trillion in total cuts over the next decade.

"I'll take responsibility as a Republican, but we've got to avoid it," said McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee. "The world is a very dangerous place."


http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/11/pelosi-false-argument-to-say-washington-has-spending-problem/

I can see where Pelosi and Obama would think that Washington doesn't have a spending problem as they are the problem.

I am from California,and I'm Ashamed that she is a part of our state goverment.She just wants to fill her pokets from the less fortunet.I wish California would fire them all and start anew,it sure could not make it any worse in my humble opinion,maybe do it also in the federal arena.Sorry just venting

So by definition, if there isn't a spending problem, there must be a "revenue" problem. If spending isn't the issue then it must be that we the people simply aren't paying our "fair share" in taxes. You can't have it both ways. And oddly enough, this seems to be the Democratic Party position. The President recently stated that he has cut enough. It is now time to address revenues. I thought we just did that. And cuts? What cuts?

I am tired of 10 year projections; they are totally meaningless. I want to know what you are doing for this year's budget. Oh wait, that's right - there isn't one. How convenient! There hasn't been one for nearly 4 years now.

Far from wanting to cut, most Democrats still don't think we are spending enough! There are always more "worthy" projects out there that they can spend more on, and even if they don't add new projects, the existing ones can always benefit from an increase in spending. Pelosi touts cuts in education and scientific research as being harmful "along with the rest" whatever "the rest" is. How much of our budget do we spend on education and scientific research? I bet we could zero them out and the decrease in the deficit would be insignificant. But that is the way it is with politicians - they only mention items that most people would not want to cut while leaving the pork in there or increasing it.

Let's face it - like most Democrats, Pelosi only favors cuts in defense spending. According to her (and them) everything else is vital to our economy and should receive increased spending, not cuts.

Here we sit watching for Iraq's budget to be voted on when our own country doesn't have a budget. Our government is just as pitiful as Iraq's.

elandur wrote:

I am tired of 10 year projections; they are totally meaningless. I want to know what you are doing for this year's budget. Oh wait, that's right - there isn't one. How convenient! There hasn't been one for nearly 4 years now.
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But Pelosi argued that more cuts would hurt the economy, and in turn do little to close the deficit.

I guess if it's going to do very little we shouldn't try.... now there is a message I want our leaders sending to our kids....

I bet firing half the Politicians would help with the deficit....