Budget deal promotes too much spending, Grassley says

Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today made the following comment on his vote against proceeding to the Senate vote on the House-Senate budget deal and his intention to vote against the legislation on final passage.

"While I appreciate the bipartisan effort that brokered this budget deal, I can't support the proposal.  It spends an additional $63 billion over the next two years when we have a $17 trillion debt.  To offset that higher spending, it raises revenue over ten years but spends that money in the first two years.  It raises fees on air travelers and corporate pension premiums and reduces retirement benefits for military retirees to offset unrelated spending.  Nearly all of the meager spending cuts come way down the road, in 2022 and 2023.  To get our fiscal house in order, we should at least abide by the spending caps put in place in August 2011 that provided a $2.1 trillion increase in the nation's debt ceiling.  This budget deal emphasizes that Congress has a spending problem."