WASHINGTON, D.C.--Senator John Thune issued the following statement regarding President Obama's budget proposal released this morning:
 
"President Obama's budget proposal is a failure of leadership. The president's budget spends too much, borrows too much, and raises taxes on job creators.
 
"Debt and deficits continue to plague our country's economic growth and recovery after four straight years of more than $1 trillion deficits under President Obama. America currently faces a national debt of over $15 trillion and U.S. debt recently surpassed 100 percent of gross domestic product. Yet, rather than propose serious solutions to address the federal government's reckless spending and borrowing habits, the president's budget will spend $47 trillion over the next 10 years, increasing the national debt by $11 trillion to an astonishing $25.9 trillion.
 
"In addition to proposing more spending, the president is proposing $1.9 trillion in new taxes, the largest tax hike in history. With nearly 13 million Americans currently unemployed, it would be disastrous to raise taxes on America's job creators as the president's budget proposes. Increased taxes on those who create jobs would only further hamstring their ability to add additional workers.
 
"Rather than providing bold solutions that address our country's unsustainable entitlement programs and save them for future generations of Americans, the president's budget simply proposes cuts to care. This short-sighted solution could jeopardize the Medicare and Social Security benefits seniors currently enjoy and will do nothing to ensure the long-term solvency of these programs for our children and grandchildren.
 
"After the Senate defeated President Obama's budget last year in a unanimous vote of 97-0, I cannot help but wonder how many Senate Democrats will reject his ill-advised budget yet again this year."
 
Budget Gimmicks in the President's Budget:
 
          -The president's budget counts $1 trillion in new savings from spending caps enacted by the Budget Control Act of 2011. These are savings the president himself never proposed, and were already enacted into law in August of 2011.

          -The president's budget claims $848 billion in savings from "reduced funding" for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is a budget gimmick that even the president's own fiscal commission rejected because war funding was never expected to remain at surge levels for the next 10 years.

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