Obama Threatens to Veto 'Cut, Cap and Balance' Spending Plan By GOP
President Obama has threatened to veto the Republican Cut, Cap and Balance fiscal plan if the legislation reaches his desk.
The plan, which proposes a debt limit hike on a constitutional amendment, and a requirement for government to balance their books annually, was shot down Monday by the Obama administration, which deemed it "an empty political statement with unrealistic policy goals."
The Obama Administration feels the plan goes overboard. "Neither setting arbitrary spending levels nor amending the Constitution is necessary to restore fiscal responsibility," reads the statement issued by the White House.
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"The bill would set unrealistic spending caps that could result in significant cuts to education, research and development, and other programs critical to growing our economy and winning the future."
The White house also claims the plan "sets out a false and unacceptable choice between the Federal Government defaulting on its obligations now, or, alternatively, passing a Balanced Budget Amendment, that in the years ahead, will likely leave the Nation unable to meet its core commitment of ensuring dignity in retirement."
The decision disappoints conservatives who feel this is the only way to solve the current fiscal crisis which may result in elderly not receiving their Social Security this year.
"President Obama has cast another vote for business as usual in Washington," said Joe Brettell, spokesman for the Cut, Cap and Balance Coalition.
"Instead of supporting legislation that will permanently end Americas debt crisis, he continues to pursue a track that will increase taxes on job creators, perpetuate Congressional over spending and ignore the vast majority of Americans who want politicians to live by the same balanced budget they do."
In Monday's statement, President Obama highlighted a rival fiscal plan, where he plans to reduce the deficit by $4 trillion worldwide while "still supporting economic growth and job creation."
His administration didn’t provide specific details on his plan.
Still the odds of the conservative Cut, Cap and Balance plan becoming law is slim in the Democratic-controlled Senate. A constitutional amendment to balance the federal budget would require two-thirds approval by both chambers of Congress.
