Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) responded to President Bush’s budget request to Congress today, with the following statement:

“The president continues to play fast and loose with our fiscal future. At a time when the administration has ackowledged this year’s budget deficit will be the largest in our history, at $423 billion, the Republicans are preparing, at the President’s urging, another $70 billion in tax cuts, to add to our debt.  Meanwhile, the budget proposes shortsighted cuts in important priorities for Oregonians, including education, which will see the largest reduction in at least a decade.
 
“The severity of our fiscal situation is actually understated since the President is withholding from the budget, the cost of the war in Iraq and the need to fix the stealth alternative minimum tax, a tax that will devastate middle income Oregonians over the next ten years. The AMT patch alone would reduce revenues by over $800 billion over the next ten years.
 
“This is just the beginning of a critical budget debate and I remain committed to working through the budget and appropriations process to ensure our nation’s budget reflects the reality and priorities of Oregonians.”