Key Vote NO on the House’s Fiscal Year 2017 Budget

  • By: FW Staff
  • 03/17/2016

As one of our over 5.7 million FreedomWorks activists nationwide, I urge you to contact your representatives and ask them to vote NO on the Fiscal Year 2017 Budget Resolution. This budget locks in the increased spending levels negotiated between President Obama and then-Speaker John Boehner last year, essentially assuring that the net legacy of this newly Republican-led 114th Congress will be higher spending.

This budget, introduced by Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Tom Price (R-GA-6), sets discretionary spending at $1.07 trillion. This is the level agreed to when Republicans and Democrats teamed up to increase both defense and non-defense spending in December, busting the budget caps that were the only meaningful restraint on spending we’ve achieved in years. Conservatives in the House asked for a modest $30 billion spending reduction, a return to the Budget Control Act levels, but leadership has been unwilling to fight for even these small cuts.

As ever, these increased spending levels are being justified with promises to hold a separate vote on spending cuts, as well as a resolution to attach deficit reduction language to future legislation. Of course, even if such votes do happen, it is clear that President Obama will never sign them into law, making the offer an empty gesture designed to create the illusion of responsibility.

The national debt now exceeds $19 trillion. Even if interest rates remain at their current, low levels, spending on interest payments alone will exceed national defense spending in under 10 years. The path we are on is unsustainable, and if Republicans, many of whom ran on promises of limited government and fiscal responsibility, pass this budget, it means that spending will have actually increased under GOP control of both chambers of Congress. Republicans need to get serious about reining in spending, and this budget is simply not a serious proposal.

Please contact your representatives and ask that they vote NO on the Fiscal Year 2017 Budget Resolution. FreedomWorks will count the vote on this bill as a Key Vote when calculating our Congressional Scorecard for 2016. The scorecard is used to determine eligibility for the FreedomFighter Award, which recognizes Members of Congress who consistently vote to support economic freedom and individual liberty.

Sincerely,

Adam Brandon

CEO, FreedomWorks

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