Promised As Candidate To “Lead Efforts To Balance The Federal Budget,” But Has Done Opposite Since Going To Washington

As a candidate for U.S. Senate in 2006, Jon Tester (D-MT) presented himself as a different kind of Democrat, a fiscally responsible kind, who promised Montanans he would “lead efforts to balance the federal budget.”  But apparently that was all just empty promises and cynical campaign posturing…

Instead, Tester has done the exact opposite in Washington – rubberstamping President Barack Obama’s failed $787 billion stimulus and ObamaCare, with its $570 billion in tax hikes and $500 billion in Medicare cuts, and helping ram through a spending resolution that “would create as much government debt as every other president from George Washington to George W. Bush – combined.”

It’s now been more than 800 days since Tester and his fellow Senate Democrats have passed any federal budget – much less the balanced budget he promised Montanans – during which time our national debt has skyrocketed past its $14.3 trillion limit.  And to top off his glaring broken promise, Tester voted recently against consideration of an amendment to the Constitution for a balanced federal budget.

Now – after U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT) and House Republicans, along with five Democrats, voted last night to cut government spending now, cap it in the future and approve a constitutional amendment to balance the federal budget – Montanans are once again reminded of Tester’s broken promises and disastrous fiscal record in Washington.

“Jon Tester promised Montanans he would ‘lead efforts to balance the federal budget,’ but he’s done the exact opposite since he got to Washington and started driving our national debt through the roof with his reckless spending,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Chris Bond today.  “Montanans, both today and in the future, are going to pay a hefty price if we don’t change course from Obama and Tester’s massive deficit spending, skyrocketing debt, and job-killing tax hikes.”

Notably, rather than working to clean up the mess he and his fellow Washington Democrats have made, Tester continues to side with President Obama – supporting Obama’s calls for more wasteful deficit spending and job-killing tax hikes, a position which the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports “would increase the probability of a sudden fiscal crisis,” and cause interest payments alone to consume 9 percent of our entire economy by 2035, up from about 1 percent today.

TESTER HAS CONSISTENTLY SUPPORTED HIS PARTY’S RECKLESS TAX-SPEND-AND-BORROW AGENDA IN WASHINGTON:

• In 2011, Tester Voted Against An Amendment That Would Express The Sense Of The Senate Supporting Consideration Of An Amendment To The Constitution For A Balanced Budget. “Lee, R-Utah, amendment no. 115 that would express the sense of the Senate supporting consideration of an amendment to the Constitution to provide for a balanced budget.” (S. 23, CQ Vote #30: Rejected by a vote of 58-40: R 47-0; D 10-39; I 1-1, 3/2/11, Tester Voted Nay)

• Tester Voted For The $787 Billion “Stimulus” Bill. (H.R. 1, CQ Vote #64: Adopted 60-38; R 3-38; D 55-0; I 2-0, 2/13/09, Tester Voted Yea)

• Tester Voted To Adopt The $3.5 Trillion Fiscal 2010 Budget Resolution That “Would Create As Much Government Debt As Every Other President From George Washington To George W. Bush – Combined.” (Brian Riedl, “A Doubling By Obama,” The Washington Times, 3/24/09; S. Con. Res. 13, CQ Vote #173: Adopted 53-43: R 0-40; D 51-3; I 2-0, 4/29/09, Tester Voted Yea)

• Tester Voted To Pass The Health Care Reconciliation Bill. (H.R. 4872, CQ Vote #105: Passed 56-43: R 0-40; D 54-3; I 2-0, 3/25/10, Tester Voted Yea)

• ObamaCare Cut Medicare By Roughly “$500 Billion Over The Next Decade.” “To cover the cost of those changes, the compromise would impose a 3.8 percent Medicare tax on investment income for wealthy taxpayers, a levy that would come in addition to a Senate-proposed increase in the regular payroll tax for those families. And it would slice an additional $60 billion from Medicare, with the privately run program known as Medicare Advantage targeted for particularly deep cuts, bringing the total reduction in projected spending on the program to more than $500 billion over the next decade.” (Lori Montgomery and Paul Kane, “House Leaders Announce $940 Billion Health-Care Compromise Bill,” The Washington Post, 3/19/10)

• Tester Voted At Least Five Times To Raise The Debt Limit. (S. Con. Res. 70, CQ Vote #142: Adopted, (thus sent to the House), by a vote of 48-45: R 2-44; D 44-1; I 2-0, 6/4/08, Tester Voted Yea; H.R. 3221, CQ Vote #186: Motion agreed to, thus clearing the bill for the president, by a vote of 72-13: R 27-13; D 43-0, I 2-0, 7/26/08, Tester Voted Yea; H.J. Res 45, CQ Vote #14: Passed by a vote of 60-39: R 0-39; D 58-0, I 2-0, 1/28/10, Tester Voted Yea; H.R. 4313, CQ Vote #397: Passed (thus cleared for the president) by a vote of 60-39: R 1-38; D 57-1; I 2-0, 12/24/09, Tester Voted Yea; H.R. 1, CQ Vote #64, Adopted (thus cleared for the president) by a vote of 60-38: R 3-38; D 55-0; I 2-0, 2/13/09, Tester Voted Yea)

BUT AS A CANDIDATE IN 2006, TESTER PROMISED TO “LEAD EFFORTS TO BALANCE THE FEDERAL BUDGET”:

• “Jon Tester Will Lead Efforts To Balance The Federal Budget and stop stealing from the Social Security trust fund.” (Jon Tester For U.S. Senate Website, “Real Change, Real Vision For Montana Plan,” www.testerforsenate.com, Accessed 3/29/11)

• Tester: “I’m Not About To Put My Kids’ Future And Opportunity On The Line So I Can Spend Money Like A Drunken Sailor. I Am Going To Be Fiscally Responsible. And The Fact Is If You Would Support A Pay-As-You-Go In This Government, We Wouldn’t Be In A Situation Where We Have Every Man, Woman, And Child, And Every Child To Be Born With A $30,000 Debt.” (Montana Senate Debate, www.c-spanvideo.org, 10/12/06)

                         Video Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlHE4FzuO2I

• Tester: “The Fact Is You Need To Have People Back There That Have Experience In Balancing A Checkbook And Can Set Priorities. I’ve Been Able To Balance A Checkbook In The Private Sector And In The Public Sector.” (Montana Senate Debate, www.c-spanvideo.org, 10/9/06)

                         Video Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RziBtqkgJ8