MidSouth legislators provided these opinions on Monday.
Sen. Alexander criticizes U.S.budget problems
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) released the following statement on Feb. 2 about President Barack Obama’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2016:
“We need to address Washington’s spending problem and fix the federal government’s $18 trillion debt, and the way to do it is by reducing the growth of out-of-control entitlement spending. I plan to work with our Republican majority — and, I hope, the president — to make tough choices so we can pass a real plan to fix the debt while supporting other priorities like national defense and national labs and medical research.”
Alexander said that mandatory spending — which includes out-of-control entitlement spending that is driving the growth in the federal debt — makes up about 60 percent of overall federal spending each year. Discretionary spending — the part of the budget that is already subject to spending caps under the Budget Control Act of 2011 and the Bipartisan Budget Act — makes up about 34 percent of federal spending each year and funds national defense, national labs, national parks and other federal priorities.
Expansion of ObamaCare Medicaid faces opposition
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — State Sen. Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown) announced on Monday that he is against expanding ObamaCare Medicaid. Monday was the start of a special session called to consider whether Tennessee should expand its Medicaid program under provisions of the Affordable Care Act, or “ObamaCare.”
He cited three reasons:
- “I believe in limited government, not expanding government – and certainly not expanding it for ObamaCare. ObamaCare Medicaid expansion is a new entitlement program for able-bodied, childless adults. This population is already receiving health care, and we should be encouraging them to receive health insurance by finding full-time employment. Presently, only 16% are working full-time, and I fear this new entitlement will reduce rather than increase that percentage.”
- “ This plan will add $1.4 billion per year to the federal debt and Tennessee taxpayers’ share of that debt. Medicaid is not like some federal plans in which a pot of money is allocated and then divvied up among states that participate. Medicaid money is only paid if enrollees receive actual services. Every dollar saved by not expanding Medicaid in Tennessee is a dollar our grandchildren do not have to pay back to the Chinese.”
- “I have grave concerns that Tennessee taxpayers will be left on the hook in two years. Tennessee hospitals have promised to pay the millions of dollars owed by the state in future years through their 4.5% tax on net patient revenue, but Senator Corker, Senator Alexander, and President Obama himself have all advocated for the 4.5% tax to be reduced. Without money, Tennessee would be forced to kick individuals off the rolls as Governor Bredesen did in 2005. However, legal experts have testified that this plan is like the Eagles’ ‘Hotel California.’ You can check in, but you can never check out.”
Sen. Corker slams Obama’s FY2016 budget
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, released the following statement Monday on President Barack Obama’s fiscal year 2016 budget proposal.
“Our inability to get our nation’s fiscal house in order continues to be one of the most critical national security threats our country faces. The president’s budget makes little effort to solve that problem and is not a serious proposal,” said Corker.
He continued, “The spending limits put in place in 2011 have generated the only real fiscal progress our nation has made in decades, yet the president wants to not only break the promise we all made to the American people, but also revert back to the bad habits that created our massive deficits in the first place. I hope Congress will show courage and finally address the largest drivers of our deficits so we can generate economic growth and create more opportunities for Tennesseans.”
Corker, also a member of the Senate Banking Committee, commented on the president’s renewed commitment to work with Congress to pass comprehensive housing finance reform.
“On the other hand, I am pleased the administration has renewed its commitment to working with Congress to pass comprehensive legislation to wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” said Corker. “The biggest issue this year for the Senate Banking Committee, and the last major unfinished business from the 2008 financial crisis, is finally addressing this tremendous taxpayer liability and ending the failed model of private gains and public losses.”
The president’s budget says bipartisan housing finance legislation passed last year by the Senate Banking Committee was a “meaningful step” in the right direction. The bill, the Housing Finance Reform and Taxpayer Protection Act of 2014 (S.1217), passed the committee in May 2014 by a vote of 13 to 9 and was first introduced by Corker and Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.) in June 2013.
