Senate Democrats Sought $1.3 Trillion In New Tax Hikes & $300 Billion In New Stimulus Spending, Instead of Serious Spending Cut Proposals

In response to this evening’s announcement by the deficit reduction Super Committee that they were unable to reach any bipartisan agreement, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) said the failure of leadership by Senate Democrats, and their addiction to higher taxes and more wasteful Washington spending, will be a defining issue in next year’s U.S. Senate campaign in Michigan.

“After years of reckless government spending, unemployment mired at 9 percent and a $15 trillion debt that grows daily, the negotiations of the last few weeks have been a remarkable commentary on the misplaced priorities of Debbie Stabenow and her fellow liberal Democrats.

“Voters should rightfully wonder why Senator Stabenow and her fellow Democrats didn’t show the same zeal for actually solving our nation’s problems as they did for ramming ObamaCare and their $825 billion stimulus boondoggle into law.

“Instead, we’ve watched as Senate Democrats insisted on a trillion-dollar tax hike on job creators and hundreds of billions of dollars in new government stimulus spending, while doing nothing to avoid Social Security and Medicare from going bankrupt.  In contrast, Republicans focused on common-sense tax reform, protecting entitlement programs and trimming the fat from the federal government’s budget.

“It’s clear Senator Stabenow and her Senate Democrat colleagues have an addiction to higher taxes, bigger government and more spending, but voters in Michigan will have an opportunity to cure her of that addiction when they go to the polls next November.”

-          Jahan Wilcox, NRSC Press Secretary

BACKGROUND ON SENATE DEMOCRATS “DEFICIT REDUCTION” IDEAS…..

• Democrats suggested Wednesday that too much has already been cut from non-defense spending to come up with $1.2 trillion in cuts over the next 10 years, as sources offered a few details about a Democratic proposal to collect $1.3 trillion via tax hikes, stimulus spending and benefits cuts. (Fox News, “Democrats Balk at Non-Defense Spending Cuts, Float Alternative Proposal to Super Committee,” 10/26/2011)

• In a private meeting of the deficit panel Tuesday, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, presented a proposal backed by a majority of Democrats on the panel that includes more than a trillion dollars in tax increases. The revenue would partially cover stimulus spending for the economy, aides said.  More than 50 percent of the deficit reduction in the plan would come from tax increases, one source said. (The Hill, “Supercommittee Dems push for stimulus to be part of deficit deal,” 10/26/2011)

• According to congressional sources, the plan includes a roughly equal mix of spending cuts and revenue increases; between $200 billion and $300 billion in new economic stimulus spending that would be paid for with lower interest payments from reducing deficits. (Reuters, “US Democrats seek up to $3 trln in budget savings,” 10/26/2011)

• Congressional Democrats are urging the debt-reduction supercommittee to pursue a far-reaching agreement to slice $3 trillion from the federal budget over the next decade through significant cuts to federal health programs, including Medicare, and as much as $1.3 trillion in new taxes. (Washington Post, “Congressional Democrats offer $3 trillion debt deal,” 10/26/2011)

• Aides said Democrats also had included new spending measures aimed at boosting job-creation in their plan, and proposed using some of the savings they had identified to offset the budgetary cost of these measures. (Wall Street Journal, “Democrats’ Deficit Plan Rejected by GOP,” 10/26/2011)

• Aides confirmed reports that Baucus also pressed members of the super committee to approve the president’s request for as much as $300 billion in new stimulus, another idea GOP members of the exclusive panel have strongly resisted. (ABC News, “Details of Dem Proposal Leak Out of Super Committee,” GOP Silent on Next Move, 10/26/2011)

• What Democrats are doing is playing the exact same game as President Obama played with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, during the debt limit talks, when he made an offer Boehner couldn’t accept, and then leaked it to the press. In both cases, the point is to feign a willingness to offer cuts to entitlements, and then impose unacceptable conditions on Republicans in attempt to paint them as being intransigent. (Washington Examiner, “Super cmte” Dems propose tax hikes, more stimulus, 10/26/2011)

• Of course, what else would you expect from a group of lawmakers that hasn’t passed an actual budget in nearly three years? (National Review Online, “Senate Dems Propose Massive Tax Hike, More Stimulus ,” 10/26/2011)