Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) issued the following statement after reviewing the 144-page budget deal released by Speaker Joh Boehner.
“As bad as the process that produced this budget deal is,” Lee said, “the policy is arguably worse.”
“We’re constantly told that raising the debt limit doesn’t actually increase any spending,” Lee continued, “but according to the Congressional Budget Office that is exactly what this bill does. Worse, it raids $150 billion from the Social Security Trust Fund, again delays entitlement spending cuts, and sells off part of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve at a time of historically low oil prices. In 2011 conservatives were able to use the debt limit to cut spending. Why is the debt limit an occasion for increased spending now?”
