CONGRESSMAN GRAY LEADS BLUE DOGS IN CALLING FOR FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY IN RECONCILIATION
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Adam Gray (D-Merced), Blue Dog Coalition Whip, led a majority of the Coalition in an op-ed calling for fiscal responsibility in the reconciliation process, published today in The Hill.
“In order to hand out tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy, the Republican reconciliation package would make devastating cuts to food assistance programs, health coverage, and other federal resources that hard-working Americans rely on to make ends meet,” the Blue Dogs write. “Is it so important to our colleagues across the aisle to give a handout to their mega-wealthy buddies that they would strap everyday Americans with even more crushing debt?”
The Senate is deliberating the House-passed reconciliation bill, which if enacted would add over $3 trillion to the national deficit and make devastating cuts to Medicaid and SNAP benefits. In Congressman Gray’s district, nearly 420,000 people rely on Medi-Cal (California’s Medicaid program) for health coverage. Over 100,000 individuals in Congressman Gray’s district depend on SNAP benefits to put food on the table.
The United States spends nearly $1 trillion on debt servicing, our nation’s second highest expenditure after Social Security. The reconciliation bill as written stands to increase interest rates, explode the national debt and threaten the country’s credit rating. Offering a path to a bipartisan alternative, the Blue Dogs call for a return to fiscal responsibility.
“The Blue Dogs’ vision to solve this problem is proving that our government can work,” the Blue Dogs continue. “We believe that change is not only possible but essential. It doesn’t have to be this way. There’s another way forward: a bipartisan, commonsense way that pays down our debt while extending tax cuts to working Americans who need them most. Evidently, our offers to Republican leadership to work together on this fell on deaf ears this time.”
The op-ed was co-authored by Blue Dog Co-Chairs Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, Vicente Gonzalez, Lou Correa, Jared Golden, and Blue Dog Representatives Jim Costa, Sanford Bishop and Henry Cuellar.