02.03.15

Hoeven Statement on President Obama's 2016 Budget

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven today issued the following statement in response to President Barack Obama’s 2016 budget proposal:

“We need to reduce our tax burden, reduce our regulatory burden and really help our small businesses and entrepreneurs to create jobs and economic growth. Unfortunately, however, the president has proposed a budget that increases taxes, increases spending and makes it hard to create jobs for our economy.

“I also believe it undermines the work Congress has done over the past four years to reduce our nation’s deficit. Since the Budget Control Act of 2011, we have reduced our deficit from $1.4 trillion in 2009 to $483 billion in 2014. Instead of building upon this work, the president has proposed a budget plan that spends an additional $2.4 trillion and raises taxes by $2.1 trillion over 10 years. In 2016 alone, it would increase discretionary spending by 7 percent above the current budget caps. Over the next 10 years, the president’s plan adds $8.5 trillion to the national debt and more than triples interest costs, with interest payments rising from about $229 billion this year to $785 billion in 2025.

“The plan is particularly harmful to our small businesses, including our farmers and ranchers. It repeals the stepped-up basis on inherited capital like farmland and pastureland; increases the rate of the death tax from 40 to 45 percent and reduces the death tax exemption from $5.1 million to $3.5 million. Farmers will also see crop insurance premium support reduced by 10 percentage points for revenue coverage.

“The right path to fiscal sustainability is not by taxing and spending, but by saving and investing. We need to find thoughtful reductions in overall spending and build a pro-growth legal, tax and regulatory business climate to attract investment. Doing so will create jobs, boost our economy and increase revenues by expanding our tax base rather than by raising taxes.”

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