WASHINGTON, DC—Chairman Dan Coats (R-Ind.) and Vice Chairman Pat Tiberi (R-Ohio) released part three of a Joint Economic Committee majority report entitled “The ‘New Normal’?: Fiscal Recklessness.”

 

The Obama Administration’s fiscal recklessness has put our nation on a dangerous trajectory. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office warns us that we are “on an unsustainable path – meaning that federal debt will continue to grow much faster than the economy over the long run.” Rather than work with Congress to solve this problem, President Obama chose to increase the debt at a record rate.

 

Key findings in part three of this report include:

• Over the past eight years the Obama Administration has set records for debt accumulation that rank alongside administrations during the Civil War and World War II, but without the excuse of high-levels of war spending that existed during those conflicts
• The Obama Administration’s fiscal stimulus package only managed to stimulate unsustainable levels of debt
• By 2046 the percentage of publically held federal debt relative to Gross Domestic Product will reach 141 percent. To pay off this level of debt in one year would require a 165 percent tax rate on all American households and businesses

 

To help ensure fiscal stability policymakers most focus on balancing our budget and addressing the key drivers of our spending – mandatory programs. This, combined with commonsense solutions to modernize our regulatory and tax policies, will help prevent a sluggish economy from becoming our new normal.

 

The report is available on the Joint Economic Committee website, here.