Budget
More on Budget
The House, Senate and President all recently agreed to last-minute legislation to stop automatic tax increases and delay arbitrary defense spending cuts known collectively as the “fiscal cliff.” The President had consistently said the fiscal cliff must be resolved through a “balanced approach” to deficit reduction including new tax revenues as well as spending cuts.
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE) made the following statement after voting against the Senate’s fiscal cliff agreement:
Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE) sent a letter to Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) requesting the inclusion of farm policy in any year-end legislative package considered by the House of Representatives. Smith’s letter also was signed by Congressman Lee Terry (R-NE).
As Congress turns its focus to resolving the fiscal cliff - the end-of-the-year deadline after which deep cuts in spending and increases in tax rates for all earners take effect - there is much disagreement on how to bring down the deficit in a responsible way without harming our economy. The question of tax rates remains one of the largest sticking points to the debate.
The national economy is bleak. Four years after a deep recession, unemployment remains stubbornly high at 7.8 percent, and economic growth has slowed to 1.3 percent. Families and small businesses are struggling to make ends meet. As wages and benefits have been cut, prices of electricity, gas, food, and health care continue to rise. Clearly, we are not headed in the right direction.
The House of Representatives returns from the August District Work Period this week with several items left to accomplish during the short amount of time before the November elections.
The looming expiration of critical tax provisions on January 1, 2013 is part of what many analysts are calling the “fiscal cliff.” Others have dubbed this economic doomsday scenario “Taxmageddon.” Recently, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found failing to prevent scheduled tax increases at the end of the year likely would contribute to a recession in early 2013.
Washington, DC – Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE) released the following statement after the 2012 Social Security and Medicare Trustees Reports showed both programs will be insolvent within the next 20 years:
Washington, DC – Today Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE) released the following statement after he and sixteen Members of Congress sent a letter to Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi regarding the Postal Service targeting rural postal facilities as a means of addressing its massive budget shortfall:
America’s looming debt crisis is the most predictable – and avoidable – economic calamity in our nation’s history. Make no mistake: empty promises from both political parties have gotten us where we are today. This explosion of debt is threatening to cripple our nation and rob our children and grandchildren of their future.