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˜ Ben Nelson
February 1, 2010 – Today, Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson made the following comment on President Obama’s 2011 budget, which was unveiled this morning:
“The President is between a rock and a hard place, nurturing a fragile economic recovery and combating 10 percent unemployment, while also working to reduce the deficit. Looking at his 2011 budget, we also must remember that he really did inherit a ton of red ink. That’s not meant as political spin; it’s a fact.
“Given those circumstances, the President’s budget proposal for a three-year domestic spending freeze is a good first step that will save $250 billion over the next 10 years. We should go further and look at all spending programs, both discretionary and mandatory, and find additional spending cuts.
“The 2011 budget’s projected deficits are still too high for me. I will work with my colleagues on ways to rein in the budget deficit sooner rather than later.
“Setting up a fiscal commission similar to the base closing commission that enabled Congress to make the right choices on military spending could define ways to cut the deficit. I’m disappointed the Senate didn’t approve that idea, which I cosponsored and voted for, when it had the chance recently. My hope now is that the President’s plan to sign an Executive Order creating a fiscal commission will get the job done. The Senate’s approval last week of pay-as-you-go rules can help cut the deficit, meanwhile, because they force new federal spending plans to be offset by cuts in existing government spending. Millions of Americans are tightening their belts. Congress must do the same.”
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