Reps. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), the co-chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), and Rep. Michael Honda, the CPC Budget Taskforce Chairman and principal author of the CPC 2013 Budget, today released their full alternative budget, the Budget for All. The CPC budget calls for no cuts to Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security benefits, astark contrast to the House Republican cuts-only scheme that fails to balance the budget. The Budget for All invests in proven job creation initiatives and includes popular reforms such as public financing of Congressional and presidential elections, progressive taxation and a public health care option.
The full budget materials can be read at Budget4all.org.
A one-page summary is available at http://1.usa.gov/H6u4lI and the executive summary is available at http://1.usa.gov/GQRcVC.
“Our budgets mean schools, firehouses and hospitals stay open and people get the education and job training they need to find good jobs when they’re ready,” Rep. Grijalva said. “Cutting billions from public education, low income health care, school nutrition and public services and giving the money to big corporations isn’t making a tough choice. It’s a choice that’s going to make it tougher for a lot of working Americans, but that’s not the same thing. Republicans say we’re headed off a cliff because of spending. Well, our budget increases funding for job training, for education, for infrastructure, for low-income and veterans housing, and we chart a much more fiscally responsible path than the Republican scheme. It’s about more than numbers on a page to us – it’s about people.”
“Paul Ryan was right about only one thing when he introduced the GOP’s budget,” Ellison said. “America has a choice between two futures. In the Republican vision for America, the Medicare guarantee is stripped from our parents and grandparents, Wall Street greed is rewardedwhile the middle class continues to shrink and more of our tax dollars are handed over to millionaires, billionaires and the corporate special interests who can afford an army of lobbyists.
“In the CPC’s vision for America, we all do better when we all do better. We reward work, not just wealth. We invest in our people and rebuild America, and we begin to show Washington what a government of, by, and for the people looks like. I think I know which future the American people will choose,” Rep.Ellison concluded.
“As architects of America’s future, Republicans absolutely offer no progress, protection or prosperity,” Rep. Honda said. “The Republican budget is irresponsible and will decimate the American economy. In contrast, the CPC Budget For All puts Americans back to work, re-ignites the economy through historic investments and allows American business to dream big, innovate and win. The Budget For All rejects the radical Republican notion that every indispensible social program must be gutted to pay for more tax cuts for the rich. The Budget For All forges a fair tax code and protects and expands the social safety net. Some frame this decisive moment for America as a choice between two futures. I agree. The Republican scheme offers the great majority of Americans no future at all. The Budget For All protects and grows the future for all Americans.”
The Budget for All increases funding for a variety of successful job creation programs, restores high earner’s marginal tax rates to Clinton-era levels, and preserves Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid without making benefit cuts. The plan builds on the successes of the CPC 2012 proposal, The People’s Budget, which garnered praise from notable economists such as Paul Krugman and Jeffrey Sachs and outlets such as The Economist.
