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Hastings Highlights Obama’s 9.1 Trillion Deficit, Reminds President of Promise to “Restore Discipline and Honesty to Our Budget”

Flashback to Obama Fiscal Responsibility Summit Remarks

Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement regarding the Obama Administration’s Office of Management & Budget (OMB) report that its 10-year budget deficit projection will increase from $7.1 trillion to roughly $9 trillion and the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) report that the federal budget deficit for 2009 will total $1.6 trillion – the highest since World War II:

“On February 23, 2009, President Obama hosted a Fiscal Responsibility Summit at the White House where he declared ‘we cannot simply spend as we please’ and promised to cut the federal deficit in half by the end of his first term.

“However, six months later, the President’s rhetoric rings hollow.

“Instead of fulfilling his promise to ‘usher in a new era of responsibility in Washington,’ President Obama signed into law a trillion dollar stimulus bill full of ineffective measures --  including authorizing the U.S. Forest Service to send millions of stimulus dollars to states that have no Forest Service land.

“Instead of fulfilling his promise to ‘live within our means again,’ President Obama signed into law a massive $10 billion omnibus lands bill that blocks American energy production and job creation.   

“Instead of fulfilling his promise to ‘make tough choices and do much more to address our long-term challenges,’ his Administration enacted a defacto moratorium on new offshore oil and natural gas drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf that would lower the staggering federal deficit by generating $1.64 trillion in total federal tax revenue.

“Instead of fulfilling his promise to have a ‘frank conversation about the fiscal challenges we face,’ President Obama used every public relations trick in the book today to prevent the American people from learning that they are now saddled with an additional $2 trillion in debt because of the Administration’s misplaced priorities.

“America needs the President to finally fulfill his promise to “restore discipline and honesty to our budget.’  We cannot afford to remain on this reckless spending path.”

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