President Obama last week unveiled his plan to reduce the deficit and jumpstart the economy. Unfortunately, it had little to do with the deficit or economic growth and more to do with political messaging. Pushing for tax increases already rejected by Congress and disproportionate cuts to the agriculture sector are causing even members of his own party to question his plan. Many in Congress with better ideas are waiting for him to listen, and we're growing increasingly impatient.The President has once again decided to be a champion for tax increases. It would be one thing if his proposal was designed to actually help our economy and get our fiscal house in order. Yet even if we doubled the taxes of those being targeted by the President's new "Buffett" tax plan, it would amount to a mere one percent of this year's deficit. On top of that, many of the taxpayers he's targeting are the very people in a position to create jobs – if only the government would get out of the way. We don't have a tax problem, we have a spending problem, and no amount of new taxes will solve it.
The root of our problem is bloated federal spending, and whether we like it or not, entitlement programs are a big part of that. If we don't achieve meaningful reforms to programs like Medicare and Medicaid, they will be in jeopardy for our children and grandchildren. And yet, the President's plan barely addresses these programs. In fact, the additional spending needed to adequately reimburse doctors for providing health care to Medicare patients nearly outpaces the entire entitlement savings outlined in the plan. A real solution means ensuring our seniors and most vulnerable still get the care they need while preserving these programs for the future. President Obama's plan does not do this.Just as troubling is the proposal for agriculture. In my many visits with farmers and ranchers, I've told them to prepare for cuts to agriculture. They recognize the need to cut spending and are prepared to do their fair share. Yet instead of targeting inefficient and less popular programs, the President is proposing to cut one of our most popular and effective programs, and one that's recently seen significant cuts: crop insurance. Adding insult to injury, the plan also calls for $8 billion in new spending to extend the SURE agriculture disaster program. Most agree this program is slow, unhelpful, and ineffective. While our farmers and ranchers are looking to him for support, he remains deaf to the realities of agriculture.
With our economy still struggling, our debt continuing to rise, and millions of Americans still looking for honest work, it's time for the President to lead. Continuing to pine for higher taxes while turning a deaf ear to our job creators and ag producers is a tremendous disservice to our country. With your support, many of my colleagues and I stand ready with ideas to free our job creators to create, allow our ag producers to produce, and bring us back from the brink of a debt crisis. If only the President would listen.
