GOP Releases Budget Alternative; Specifics Forthcoming
Offering few specifics but big promises, House Republicans on Thursday released a 19-page budget alternative, “The Republican Road to Recovery.—
Republicans said their version of the spending blueprint came despite criticism from President Barack Obama that they didn’t have a competing proposal. “Here it is, Mr. President,— Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said, arguing the GOP budget get would “restore fiscal sanity here in Washington.—
Republicans said the document, containing mostly broad policy prescriptions and no specific dollar amounts, was the beginning of a process.
GOP Conference Chairman Mike Pence (Ind.) said the proposal is meant to articulate the party’s “vision that we can do better.”
When pressed on the lack of specifics, Boehner said that the document amounted to their version of a State of the Union address and that details of the Republican budget plan would be released next week.
Republicans promised lower taxes, spending cuts and less debt than Obama’s budget, as well as proposals to reform Medicare and Medicaid and to provide “universal access to affordable health care.”
They also reiterated their support for such issues as offshore drilling and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.