Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) slammed the “Gang of Six” budget plan as an attempt to balance the federal budget on the backs of the middle class and the vulnerable while giving huge new tax breaks to millionaires, billionaires and large corporations.

Nadler issued the following statement:

“During this moment of financial brinkmanship, we must not agree to trade away the American Dream, to throw our seniors under the bus, or to give up on our future by slashing education spending and restricting future investment in infrastructure.

“As every sensible economist will tell you, we must not cut spending during times of economic crisis.  If we do, our unemployment rate will continue to rise, our deficit will continue to grow, and the middle class will continue to slip further and further behind.

“To address our long-term debt problems, the Gang of Six plan goes in exactly the wrong direction.  Instead of stimulating economic growth through education and infrastructure, adequately taxing the wealthy, and providing stable retirement and health care benefits for our seniors, the Gang of Six plan would cut Medicare, Medicaid and education funding, and starve the government of tax revenues from those who have benefited most from the current broken system.

“Specifically, the Gang of Six plan would require Medicare and Social Security costs to be shifted onto individuals through cuts to benefits, including Supplemental Security Income (SSI).  And, by reducing high-income marginal tax rates, the plan would further tilt the tax code in favor of the wealthy.

“If enacted, the Gang of Six proposal would turn the American Dream upside down and we will leave our children a less prosperous and less fair nation than the one we inherited from our parents.  I, for one, will not be a part of such a destructive course of action for this country.
“Instead, we should invest in education, infrastructure and innovation to jump-start new industries and provide good paying jobs to middle class families.  Reducing unemployment would reduce the deficit, which can be further reduced by eliminating unfair tax loopholes, increasing marginal tax rates on the wealthy, and reducing wasteful expenditures, especially in the defense budget.
“I am committed to working with my colleagues to follow sound economic advice to avoid job-killing spending cuts during this time of economic difficulty.  I will not support the Gang of Six plan to balance the budget on the backs of the vulnerable while further enriching the already-wealthy.”

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