Politics

Rubio says budget deal brokered by Paul Ryan is ‘irresponsible’

Alex Pappas Political Reporter
Font Size:

Marco Rubio is coming out hard against the budget deal brokered for Republicans by Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan that does away with recent spending cuts.

“We need a government with less debt and an economy with more good paying jobs, and this budget fails to accomplish both goals, making it harder for more Americans to achieve the American Dream,” Rubio said. “Instead, this budget continues Washington’s irresponsible budgeting decisions by spending more money than the government takes in and placing additional financial burdens on everyday Americans.”

On Tuesday night, Ryan – the House budget chairman – and Democratic Sen. Patty Murray – who leads the Senate budget committee – unveiled a budget agreement that they said would avoid a government shutdown in January.

But conservatives are not happy with the discretionary spending levels in the deal, which Ryan and Murray have named the “Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013.”

While sequestration – the across the board spending cuts to government agencies – capped 2014 spending levels at $967 billion, this agreement raises that spending level to $1.012 trillion.

“In the short run, this budget also cancels earlier spending reductions, instead of making some tough decisions about how to tackle our long-term fiscal challenges caused by runaway Washington spending,” Rubio said. “I voted against sequestration because of its effect on key programs, including the defense budget, but higher spending and more revenue are not the appropriate ways to address that problem.”

Follow Alex on Twitter

Tags : paul ryan
Alex Pappas