In a video interview with The Daily Caller, Maryland Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen said the automatic spending cuts set to go into effect next month are “too deep, too fast and too arbitrary.”
The Bipartisan Policy Center reported that the sequester is “only projected to cut $1.01 trillion from the debt over the next ten years – $190 billion less than the super committee’s minimum mandate.”
TheDC asked Van Hollen and Democratic Rep. Rob Andrews if Congress should cut spending further than the sequester.
“If the economy grew at 3 and a quarter percent instead of 2 and a quarter percent, which it’s presently at, we would cut a lot more than 1 trillion off the debt. The most powerful debt and deficit reduction tool is economic growth,” said Andrews on Capitol Hill, after a Democratic Steering and Policy Committee hearing.
“I think the biggest problem in our economy is a lack of demand for businesses and consumers, and I think withdrawing 100 billion from the economy at this time would worsen that problem, not improve it.”
Van Hollen said Congress should “replace the sequester” with an “equal” amount of deficit reduction that includes “targeted cuts” and revenue from “closing all the tax loopholes all the candidates talked about in the last presidential campaign.”