Right now, Congress is appropriately focusing on putting money in the pockets of middle-class families by extending and expanding the payroll tax cut and extending unemployment insurance – both of which are critical to our economic recovery. Yet beneath the radar, there’s another important debate heating up over how we fund all the things that government does year in and year out – from financing education to inspecting our food, equipping our military, and helping those down on their luck afford a decent meal. And if it’s not resolved in a balanced, bipartisan way, Congress could be forcing a costly government shutdown, inflicting on the economy a shock that we do not need and cannot afford.
This debate is not about how much we spend; it’s about what your taxpayer dollars are spent on. In August, Congress and the President agreed on overall package that puts what is called discretionary spending on a path to its lowest level as a share of the economy since the Eisenhower Administration. Some wanted to cut less, some more, but that was the deal. The debate now is about how Congress allocates your tax dollars, and if Congress chooses to use funding bills to make policy in areas that have nothing to do with dollars and cents.
The President supports a balanced approach that cuts waste where we can so that we are able to invest in areas critical for job creation in the short term and winning the future over the long term. He believes that responsibility should be broadly shared, and that we should not burden the most vulnerable Americans, while rewarding millionaires, billionaires, and large corporations.
Unfortunately, some Republicans in Congress want a different approach. Some want to break the deal we shook hands on in August and make deeper cuts, forcing a third of the budget to bear the whole burden of deficit reduction. Others want to ignore a critical provision designed to ensure victims of natural disasters, like Hurricane Irene, get the help they need. Some want to slash funding for programs critical to the middle class and our economic future such as President Obama’s Race to the Top education reform initiative, health reform, environmental protection, and critical research and development in clean energy and advanced manufacturing. They want to deny funding and use other provisions to stop Wall Street reform which will make sure that taxpayers are never again on the hook for Wall Street’s failures, hold Wall Street accountable, and protect consumers.
Fonte: White House