STATEMENT
The Budget
I wanted to quickly discuss the primary issue we are dealing with in the Senate. The Budget.
This process has been drawn-out, but this should always have been expected. I thank the President for presenting an emergency resolution to the Senate to enable the functions of Government to continue as we work towards a solution.
I am determined to get a Budget passed and signed by the end of this month. There are clear divides and a not-inconsiderable challenge in addressing them. The Administration doesn't want to see a deficit and is focused more on spending cuts and trying to introduce tax reform. Frankly, while my proposal does have some tinkering when it comes to taxes, and some small operational cuts in spending, considering the impact of not having this in place, I don't believe now is the time for the 'big discussion'. I'm still at a loss as to why it took the White House up until the week before Christmas to introduce this Budget proposal, all it did was create unnecessary pressure on the economy. If they wanted to introduce tax reform into the Budget process, then this needed to happen a lot earlier than it did.
I am happy, and indeed eager to discuss the possibility of significant tax reform, but it has been left too late and the focus now, needs to be having a functioning Budget for the Federal Government. I am not a deficit hawk, but I would prefer we have a surplus, naturally - but the processes to get a surplus in place, should not risk worse outcomes than a small deficit.
Keep up the good work, Senator. If we had ten of you, we wouldn't be in this mess.
