U.S. Senator Susan Collins, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement on the President's budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2012 which was released today.
"The President's proposed budget does far too little to rein in federal spending to bring the federal debt under control. It spends and borrows too much, and would put further financial burdens on families and small businesses at a time when we should be doing all we can to make it easier for them to invest in the private sector, creating much-needed jobs. While the President's budget does include a proposed five-year freeze on discretionary spending, this is not enough to address our urgent fiscal challenges.
"This proposal would double the publicly held debt by 2013 and triple it by 2020. Such a rate of spending is simply unsustainable and puts our nation on a ruinous fiscal course. Federal borrowing at this level hampers economic growth by crowding out private investment by businesses and individuals.
"I am particularly concerned that the President's budget proposes to cut LIHEAP funding by nearly half. Such a severe cut would have a devastating impact on about 48,000 low-income families and senior citizens in Maine who are struggling with the increased cost of oil. They should not be forced to choose between heating their homes and other vital necessities such as food and medications.
"I am encouraged that, as I have long proposed, the budget outline reduces costly price supports for wealthy farmers and would eliminate funding for an alternative F-35 jet engine. We also could save billions of dollars by eliminating the taxpayer subsidy for corn-based ethanol, which the President's budget fails to do.
"I will closely examine the full budget proposal in the coming weeks. Unfortunately, the President's budget represents an abdication of leadership on forcefully limiting spending and tackling the government's immediate and long-term fiscal imbalances."
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