GOP Weekly Address: Sen. Mike Lee Says Budgets Are About Setting Priorities - East Idaho News
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GOP Weekly Address: Sen. Mike Lee Says Budgets Are About Setting Priorities

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060712 SenatorMikeLee?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1363998953558US Senate(WASHINGTON) — In this week’s Republican address, Sen. Mike Lee, R-UT, says the  budget produced by Senate Democrats “grows the government, not the economy,” while the budget passed by House Republicans this week “reduces spending and debt and balances in 10 years.”

Lee begins the address by saying Senate Democrats finally took up its annual budget after not passing one in four years and says the president is “a day late and a dollar short” for announcing he will submit his budget the second week of April instead of the first Monday of February, as required.

The budget isn’t just about dollars, he says, it’s about “common sense.”

“A budget is the only way to end the nonsense of Washington’s out of control spending,” he says. “Reckless government spending has laid nearly $17 trillion of debt onto the backs of hardworking Americans.”

Lee says budgets are not only economic documents, but also reflect the nation’s moral choices and shape its society for the future.

“That’s why the budget Republicans proposed in the House of Representatives puts its trust in the American people,” he says. “We want dollars and decisions in your hands and not in the hands of bureaucrats. We know that if you can keep more of your hard-earned money, you’ll use it to help your community, to save for your child’s college tuition, and to deploy it in ways that will create jobs and grow your local economy.”

Democrats disagree, he says, and instead think Americans don’t send enough money to Washington. Their budget includes a one and a half trillion dollar tax increase, he says, “on top of the hundreds of billions they already added to your tax bills at the beginning of the year.”

Lee says Democrats have no plan to save the nation’s entitlement programs, such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, despite the fact everyone, including the president, knows that doing nothing is not an option.

“Budgets are about setting priorities. Republicans realize that we have a moral obligation to spend your hard-earned tax dollars wisely,” he says. “We should spend only what we need to cover the constitutionally authorized functions of government and not a dollar more. That’s why we support reforms to fix the programs Washington should be funding, to eliminate the programs it shouldn’t, and balance the budget.”

Unfortunately, Lee says, the president cuts spending on important services such as border security, first responders, veterans and law enforcement.

“Republicans recognize that keeping dollars, decisions, priorities and power in the hands of the people is what has made America the greatest civilization the world has ever known.  Now is the time to return to that model.  Working together we can, we must and we will restore the greatness and prosperity of our nation,” he says.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

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