Rep. Schakowsky votes against the Republican Budget for FY2012

Washington, D.C. (April 15, 2011) - Today, the House of Representatives voted to pass the Republican budget for Fiscal Year 2012 by a vote of 235-193.  Representative Schakowsky against the budget proposal, which would gut essential government programs like Medicare while giving a huge tax break to the wealthiest Americans.  Rep. Schakowsky delivered the following statement on the floor of the House against the bill:

"Mr. Speaker, the other side is trying to claim the title of fiscal responsibility today.  It is a ridiculous assertion. 

 They are the party responsible for a decade of fiscal recklessness — with two unpaid-for wars, two unpaid-for tax cuts, and a blind eye to Wall Street leading to a disastrous recession.

 And, as the President said yesterday, "There's nothing serious about a plan that claims to reduce the deficit by spending a trillion dollars on tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires....

From 1979 until 2005, the bottom twenty percent of households saw their incomes increase by $200.  Over the same period, the top 0.1 percent saw income growth of nearly six million dollars — each year. 

 There's nothing courageous about a plan that would protect the wealthy, Big Oil, and corporations that ship jobs overseas at the expense of the elderly, the disabled, and children.

The Republican budget resolution does not reflect the values of Americans, and I urge my colleagues to reject it....

***