PAYGO

June 9, 2009 -- “The President’s proposal for a new statutory budget enforcement tool is a step in the right direction, although we should go further. He is right to base his proposal on the pay-as-you-go rules that were in place during the 1990s which helped balance the federal budget.

"We know just how critical those rules were because after they expired Congress and the Bush Administration returned the country to fiscally reckless policies and produced the record-breaking deficits for which we are now paying. I’m pleased we finally reinstated the Senate’s pay-as-you-go budget rule a few years ago.    » read more »

June 9, 2009 -- To The Congress Of The United States:

Today I am pleased to submit to the Congress the enclosed legislative proposal, the "Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2009," or "PAYGO," together with a sectional analysis.

The deficits that my Administration inherited reflect not only a severe economic downturn but also years of failing to pay for new policies -- including large tax cuts that disproportionately benefited the affluent. This failure of fiscal discipline contributed to transforming surpluses projected at the beginning of this decade into trillions of dollars in deficits. I am committed to returning our Government to a path of fiscal discipline, and PAYGO represents a key step back to the path of shared responsibility.    » read more »

President Obama Calls for Restoring Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Requirements; New Requirements Will Put Fiscal Responsibility into Law

June 9, 2009 -- Washington, DC- At an event this afternoon in the East Room, President Obama will call for a return to statutory pay-as-you-go requirements. More than 40 members of Congress will attend the event – including many members of the House Blue Dog Coalition.

Listed below are the Members who will be on stage with the President:

Senator Claire McCaskill
Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer
Representative John Spratt
Representative Baron Hill
Representative Peter Welch
Representative Xavier Becerra
Representative George Miller
Representative Allen Boyd
Representative Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin    » read more »

June 9, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today applauded President Obama’s decision to submit a proposal to Congress to reinstate “pay-as-you-go” budget rules.

Senator Boxer said, “When PAYGO was in place during the Clinton Administration, Democrats in Congress balanced the federal budget and created a surplus. When the rule was ignored under President Bush and the Republican Congress, the result was record deficits and debt. Reinstating this common sense principle is long overdue—it will help us maintain fiscal discipline while we continue the hard work of rebuilding America’s economy.”    » read more »