Will House Dems Join Dem Leaders Demanding More Job-Crushing Debt & Taxes?

June 29, 2011

FYI, a similar version of this release below went out to the following districts: Jason Altmire (PA-04), Sanford Bishop (GA-02), Tim Bishop (NY-01), Dan Boren (OK-02), Leonard Boswell (IA-03), Bruce Braley (IA-01), Dennis Cardoza (CA-18), Russ Carnahan (MO-03), Ben Chandler (KY-06), David Cicilline (RI-01), Gerry Connolly (VA-11), Jim Cooper (TN-05), Jim Costa (CA-20), Jerry Costello (IL-12), Mark Critz (PA-12), Henry Cuellar (TX-28), Peter DeFazio (OR-04), Raul Grijalva (AZ-07), Brian Higgins (NY-27), Jim Himes (CT-04), Ruben Hinojosa (TX-15), Kathy Hochul (NY-26), Tim Holden (PA-17), Rush Holt (NJ-12), Steve Israel (NY-02), Bill Keating (MA-10), Dale Kildee (MI-05), Ron Kind (WI-03), Larry Kissell (NC-08), Rick Larsen (WA-02), David Loebsack (IA-02), Jim Matheson (UT-02), Carolyn McCarthy (NY-04), Mike McIntyre (NC-07), Jerry McNerney (CA-11), Michael Michaud (ME-02), Brad Miller (NC-13), Bill Owens (NY-23), Frank Pallone (NJ-06), Ed Perlmutter (CO-07), Gary Peters (MI-09), Collin Peterson (MN-07), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), David Price (NC-04), Nick Rahall (WV-03), Mike Ross (AR-04), Loretta Sanchez (CA-47), Kurt Schrader (OR-05), Heath Shuler (NC-11), Adam Smith (WA-09), Betty Sutton (OH-13), John Tierney (MA-06), Niki Tsongas (MA-05), Pete Visclosky (IN-01), Tim Walz (MN-01), David Wu (OR-01), John Yarmuth (KY-03)

Will Matheson Join Dem Leaders Demanding More Job-Crushing Debt & Taxes?
House Democrats Insist on Higher Taxes with Debt Deal to Continue Spending & Borrowing from China

Washington — As efforts continue to finally end the spending and borrowing which has the country headed down the path to fiscal ruin, Jim Matheson’s House Democrat leaders are instead demanding to make it worse. House Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi is insisting upon having a seat at the top-level debt negotiations so she can emphasize that her caucus will only support a plan that includes substantial tax increases, furthering their partisan agenda even if it makes a bad economy worse. Does that mean Matheson will join Pelosi in demanding more taxes on Utah’s families and small businesses in order to continue spending and borrowing from countries like China unabated?

“Instead of turning the country’s dire fiscal outlook around by having the government live within its means, Jim Matheson’s Democrat leaders are demanding more taxes from the American people,” said NRCC Communications Director Paul Lindsay. “Matheson and his fellow Democrats’ addiction to spending and borrowing has already left future generations in Utah indebted to foreign countries like China. Will Matheson make it worse by joining with his party leaders to lead this country further down the path of fiscal ruin, destroying jobs in the process?”

House Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi is insisting upon a spot at the negotiating table so that she can emphasize her caucus’ demands for more taxes:

“House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), who has demanded a seat at the table in the final stage of deficit-reductions talks, backed Clyburn’s argument. ‘You cannot achieve what you set out to do if you say it’s just about cutting. It has to be about increasing the revenue stream as well,’ Pelosi said Sunday on CNN’s ‘State of the Union’.” (Alexander Bolton, “House Dems: Closing special tax breaks not same as raising taxes,” The Hill, 6/26/11)

This is despite the fact that non-partisan analysts say these high debt levels and the uncertainty surrounding them are slowing the already-struggling economy:

“New figures released Wednesday by the CBO show debt rising to 190 percent of the gross domestic product by 2035. Economists have warned that exceeding 90 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) is a prescription for a debt crisis.

“‘The current level of debt is reducing our output, our incomes relative to what would be the case if we had a lower level of debt, leaving aside the effects of this particular recession, which complicate that,’ Elmendorf said Thursday. ‘Over the longer period of this kind of analysis, higher levels of debt are more damaging.’

“The annual long-term budget outlook forecasts a surge in public debt this year that will rise to 70 percent of GDP by the end of fiscal 2011, compared with 62 percent by the end of 2010, according to Wednesday’s report.” (Vicki Needham, “CBO head: Government policies, debt may be slowing growth,” The Hill‘s On The Money Blog, 6/23/11)

Despite the urgent need to change the fiscal direction of the country in order to get the economy back on track, Jim Matheson’s Democrat leaders want to do the exact opposite and continue the policies that make matters worse. Does this mean Matheson will also continue taxing, spending and borrowing from foreign countries like China instead of having the government live within its means?

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