Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma says President Barack Obama's sharp critique of the House Republican bud
(12 May 2011) HEADLINE (48 characters): Weekly GOP Address: Time to cut more spending CAPTION: (255 characters): Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma says President Barack Obama's sharp critique of the House Republican budget amounted to "campaign-style political attacks." (April 16) (Name/Location, Occupation, Expertise) (" ") This was a historic week in Washington. For the first time in more than 15 years, Congress, under leadership of the House Republicans, is making significant spending cuts. While these cuts aren't nearly enough, the American people should be encouraged. You have fundamentally changed the debate in Washington. Instead of increasing spending, Congress is now cutting spending. That is a monumental shift for Washington. "Republicans have also changed the culture of Congress. Earmarks like the Bridge to Nowhere and the Woodstock Museum are a thing of the past. Just five years ago, Congress passed 14,000 pork projects worth $29 billion. This year, we're on pace to have zero earmarks. "These changes could not have come soon enough. Our nation is facing a $14.3 trillion national debt that our own military leaders call the greatest threat to our national security. In these challenging times, we need real leadership to bring us together. As Americans, there is not a problem that we can't solve if we are together. And unfortunately, in his speech this week on the deficit, President Obama took us three steps backwards. "Instead of describing the threat and bringing both sides together, the president attacked those who have a different vision of the government. "As leaders we have a moral obligation to tell the country the truth. The truth is, is we could face a serious debt crisis sooner than anyone expects. We face an unsustainable debt and unsustainable entitlement programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. All of which will collapse if they're not reformed. "Just this week, the International Momentary Fund warned our country to get our fiscal house in order quickly before investors lose faith in our ability to repay our debts. If investors dump our bonds, which finance our deficit spending on everything from Social Security benefits and to the military spending, our economy could go into a tailspin. We would see interest rates skyrocket, which would harm consumers and add hundreds of billions of dollars to our debt every year. "We've already seen Pimco, the world's largest bond mutual fund, sell all of its holdings of U.S. Treasury bills. We're also seeing troubling signs of inflation, and energy prices continue to rise. "What we need to avert a debt crisis is real leadership and specific solutions, not campaign style political attacks. "Unfortunately, the president failed to put a serious proposal on the table. "And for instance, his plan includes a so-called "debt failsafe" that fails to actually target the debt. Entitlement spending alone accounts for more than 80 percent of our long-term debt burden but the president's plan exempts these programs from reform. By pretending that Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security are sound financially when they are not, the president is jeopardizing the benefits for the very Americans he says he wants to protect. "He also proposed expanding his failed health care law that will cost Americans now over $2.6 trillion between now and the next 10 years. That makes our debt problem much more difficult to solve. The president wants to strengthen a board of unaccountable Medical Czars and give them more power to impose price controls and ration care. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
