Less than a week after President Obama blasted the “Cut, Cap, and Balance” plan proposed by House Republicans during a press conference on Friday, the White House officially threatened to veto the bill in a statement of administration policy.
A White House official announced Monday that the plan is inconsistent with a “responsible framework to restore fiscal responsibility.”
The statement continues, “[It] sets out a false and unacceptable choice between the federal government defaulting on its obligations now or, alternatively, passing a balanced budget amendment that, in the years ahead, will likely leave the nation unable to meet its core commitment of ensuring dignity in retirement.”
House Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor are rallying around the measure as their solution to the debt-ceiling crisis. The newly-revised bill represents a drastic shift to the right that heightens concern over whether the two sides will be able to come to an agreement prior to the August 2 deadline.
“Neither setting arbitrary spending levels nor amending the Constitution is necessary to restore fiscal policy,” the Obama administration added. “Instead of pursuing an empty political statement and unrealistic policy goals, it is necessary to move beyond politics as usual and find bipartisan common ground.”
Robert Greenstein, the founder and president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, released a scathing statement in response to the GOP’s “Cut, Cap, and Balance” proposal.
“[The bill] stands out as one of the most ideologically extreme pieces of major budget legislation to come before Congress in years, if not decades,” he said.
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