Finance
Democrats Break With Fiscal Responsibility, "PAYGO"
Published February 27, 2010, 3:10 pm, CST
by Diane W. Collins
dcollins@marketingweb.com
Friday, Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, (D) Nebraska, called for an extension of unemployment benefits without establishing how Congress would pay for those benefits. This appears to be a direct violation of the expressed intent for fiscal responsibility established by the "Pay As You Go" rules passed by the Senate two weeks ago.
 |
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) Discusses Fiscal Responsibility Abide by the PAYGO Legislation |
Sen. John Cornyn (R) Texas responded showing the apparent hypocrisy of Democrats regarding "fiscal responsibility" while noting strong bipartisan support for extending the benefits. Sen. Cornyn's point was to do more than pass the bill. He called for the Senate to abide by the Pay Go legislation and "not add $10B to the deficit," which is reported to be the cost of the benefit extension. Sen. Cornyn asked that the extension of jobless benefits be paid for out of the remaining $100B in discretionary spending left in the "stimulus bill" (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009).
It appears what some see as the two-faced nature of the Democratic leadership is showing itself in the light of day. Republicans must be sure they stand for the American people and show their dedication to fiscal responsibility. This is how they will regain leadership in Congress. Democrats understand this. Monday, House Majority Leader, Steny Hoyer will address "Fiscal Responsibility" on C-SPAN live at 1:00 pm, EST.
FIND / CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE
Further reading: