Paulson on the Conrad Budget

Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson on Kent Conrad’s budget: (via Larry Kudlow)

“The budget resolution reported by the Senate Budget Committee today assumes a significant tax increase, which is the last thing our economy needs as we work to extend the current expansion. I am also disappointed that the resolution doesn’t address entitlement reform. The rising costs of Social Security and Medicare, if left unchecked, will ultimately consume the bulk of the federal budget. Balancing the budget is only one step toward addressing entitlements, which is the long-term fiscal challenge. We must also keep the economy growing, both to create jobs and increase wages for American workers and to put us in a stronger fiscal position to deal with the growing entitlement challenges in the coming years.”

The last thing we need is a tax increase to slow down the economy. Tax rates can never keep up with Congress’s spending habit. What we need to do is insist that Congress reform their activities and enact some long standing entitlement reform. It’s not too late to do this with minimal pain down the road. But the leftists like Kent Conrad are too busy playing politics to do what’s needed to be done.