Washington, D.C., April 13, 2011 -

U.S. Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA-09) issued the following reaction to President Barack Obama’s speech on America’s record setting debt and deficits:

“After proposing to lock in his record $1.6 trillion deficit with a budget freeze scheme, I’m glad to see President Obama reverse himself and pay some attention to America’s call for fiscal responsibility.  Unfortunately, the President would like to pin the blame for our $14 trillion debt on hardworking Americans in the form of higher taxes. 

“So here we’ve got a couple flip-flops.  Besides the mulligan on his own budget, the President, in December, hailed preserving the current tax rates saying, ‘This is real money that’s going to make a real difference in people’s lives.’  Apparently, he thinks we’re dealing with play money now.  The fact of the matter is, America’s small business owners, their employees, and our economy will suffer at the hands of a tax hike. 

“It’s incredible to see President Obama, the spender-in-chief, wag his finger at American families and businesses as if to say their paychecks belong to our bloated government.  After flagrantly mismanaging the people’s tax dollars for years, the last thing our government deserves is a raise.  Rather than use family paychecks to insulate failed programs and policies, Washington must address its spending problem by cutting budgets and modernizing entitlements.”

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