Issue Position: Balance the Budget

Issue Position

For too long Washington has had a spending problem. We can all agree that we need to balance our budget and get spending under control, but we must do it the right way--by protecting middle-class families, seniors, and veterans, while asking millionaires and corporations to pay their fair share.

Balancing the budget requires tough choices and cooperation, Democrats and Republicans working together. That is why I was the only Democrat in New York to vote for the balanced budget amendment, which would require the federal government to balance its budget in the same way Western New York families do, and why I supported a bi-partisan effort to cut $2.4 trillion in deficit spending.

There is no single solution to balancing the budget. That is why I have called on the Administration to eliminate and consolidate wasteful and duplicative government programs, and I've led the fight to cut foreign aid to countries, like Pakistan, that do not share our best interests. It's also important that we ask everyone to pay their fair share, which is why I've called for the closing of tax loopholes that reward corporations to ship jobs overseas, and I support allowing the Bush era tax cuts to expire for people making more than $500,000 a year.
We have more work to do, but I believe if we work together to implement common sense reforms, we can put our country back on the right track.

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