Just in from Texas Senator John Cornyn.
26 Feb 2013
Putting the Sequester in Perspective
What Does it Mean to Cut 2.4 Percent?
Every year, Texas families set budgets for their households. They determine how much to spend on necessities like groceries, rent or mortgage, gasoline, clothing, and more.
For nearly four years, Democrat leaders in the U.S. Senate have failed to pass a budget for the nation. This is a basic and important responsibility that ensures our country is on sound fiscal footing. As a result, federal spending has gone up by 19 percent since 2008 and our gross national debt is now larger than the entire U.S. economy. Every child born in Texas and across the country comes into this world already responsible for more than $50,000 of our nation’s debt.
Now, a spending-reduction plan called the “sequester†is scheduled to go into effect in a matter of days. It would cut federal spending by 2.4 percent. The sequester was proposed and signed into law by President Obama, but he now wants to avert the sequester by raising taxes on hard-working Texans.
To sell his tax hikes alternative, President Obama is creating a state of alarm over cutting 2.4 percent from $3.5 trillion in government spending.
To put this in perspective, let’s look at what a 2.4 percent cut to a family budget would look like. To reduce their spending by 2.4 percent, the average Texas family would need to:
- Run cars on 94.7 gallons of gasoline a month instead of 97 gallons per month
- Find $6 in savings from a $250 monthly grocery budget
- Look for ways to conserve $4.20 from a $175 monthly utilities bill
All working Americans had to figure out how to make ends meet with 2 percent less in their paychecks last month when the payroll tax expired. How is it that Washington can’t do the same?
26 Feb 2013
Putting the Sequester in Perspective
What Does it Mean to Cut 2.4 Percent?
Every year, Texas families set budgets for their households. They determine how much to spend on necessities like groceries, rent or mortgage, gasoline, clothing, and more.
For nearly four years, Democrat leaders in the U.S. Senate have failed to pass a budget for the nation. This is a basic and important responsibility that ensures our country is on sound fiscal footing. As a result, federal spending has gone up by 19 percent since 2008 and our gross national debt is now larger than the entire U.S. economy. Every child born in Texas and across the country comes into this world already responsible for more than $50,000 of our nation’s debt.
Now, a spending-reduction plan called the “sequester†is scheduled to go into effect in a matter of days. It would cut federal spending by 2.4 percent. The sequester was proposed and signed into law by President Obama, but he now wants to avert the sequester by raising taxes on hard-working Texans.
To sell his tax hikes alternative, President Obama is creating a state of alarm over cutting 2.4 percent from $3.5 trillion in government spending.
To put this in perspective, let’s look at what a 2.4 percent cut to a family budget would look like. To reduce their spending by 2.4 percent, the average Texas family would need to:
- Run cars on 94.7 gallons of gasoline a month instead of 97 gallons per month
- Find $6 in savings from a $250 monthly grocery budget
- Look for ways to conserve $4.20 from a $175 monthly utilities bill
All working Americans had to figure out how to make ends meet with 2 percent less in their paychecks last month when the payroll tax expired. How is it that Washington can’t do the same?