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Pocan Statement on House Passage of GOP/Ryan Budget: “Déjà vu for people of Wisconsin”

March 21, 2013

WASHINGTON—U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (WI-02), a member of the House of Representatives Committee on the Budget, once again voted against the GOP budget proposal introduced by committee chairman Paul Ryan (WI-01). The budget, which Pocan had vigorously spoken out against in the Budget Committee and on the House floor, passed the full House in a party-line vote.

“It must feel like déjà vu for the people of Wisconsin. Once again, Republicans in the House have passed a budget that the American people do not support, and has no real chance of becoming law,” Pocan said. “This is a budget whose math is bogus, but whose consequences are real and serious for our middle class families in Wisconsin. From destroying jobs, to raising taxes on the middle class, to turning Medicare into a voucher system, it makes the wrong decisions and reflects the wrong priorities for Wisconsin.

“But the biggest problem with the GOP budget is that it fails to tackle the greatest threat to our long-term deficit—our need to grow our economy and create jobs. With 12 million Americans still unemployed, and millions more who are underemployed, the best budget we can put forth is one that fosters job growth. When we get the people of Wisconsin and this country back to work, we will simultaneously fight our deficit and grow our economy.”

“We will accomplish nothing though if Republicans insist on pushing rejected and recycled policies of the past. We need to work together on a responsible plan that aggressively invests in job growth—in education, in infrastructure and innovation—while cutting wasteful spending and redundant programs where they exist. We must continue to work to reduce health care costs and look at a variety of ways we can find savings and make Medicare more efficient and effective, as proposed in a number of Democratic proposals. And we must decide that as a Congress, we are less interested in partisan posturing, and more interested on working on solutions that put our country on a path to economic prosperity.”

The GOP Budget Proposal would have a devastating impact on Wisconsin families:

  • Keeps the sequester cuts in place, meaning 36,000 Wisconsinites and 2 million Americans will lose their jobs
  • Turns Medicare into a voucher program, forcing 873,753 Wisconsin seniors out of traditional Medicare
  • Increases tax breaks for the very wealthy and big business at the cost of $3,000 a year to middle class families.

As a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, Rep. Pocan co-chaired the Joint Finance Committee, where he passed a budget during record state deficits that balanced spending cuts with revenue increases while protecting the priorities and services important to the people of Wisconsin.

Issues:Budget