Montana’s federal lawmakers nip at budget

Montana’s delegation in Washington, D.C., reacted negatively Tuesday to President Barack Obama’s budget proposal.

“President Obama’s budget is full of the same failed policies that has led our country down a path of reckless bloated spending, burdensome regulations and higher taxes,” said Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont. “This is President Obama’s eighth consecutive unbalanced budget that only serves to bolster his liberal agenda instead of lifting up hardworking American families. The American people deserve real solutions and a balanced budget — not an unworkable liberal messaging document.”

Daines said the first bill he introduced in Congress is the Balanced Budget Accountability Act, which strengthens accountability in Washington by requiring members of Congress to pass budgets that balance within 10 years or see their pay terminated.

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., released this statement:

“We can’t keep swiping the credit card of the next generation,” Tester said. “Balancing the federal budget is hard work, but if we want to hand over the world’s number one economy to our kids and grandkids, we have to work together and make tough choices.”

He called on Congress to pass his balanced budget amendment and demonstrate fiscal responsibility. The bill would amend the U.S Constitution to prevent Congress from spending more money than it receives in tax revenue.

Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., released this statement:

“There is nothing about this document that could in any way be defined as a ‘budget.’ The president’s last budget proposal is as much of a failure as last seven. It breaks spending caps, raises taxes, burdens farms, ranches and small business with more regulations, and never ever balances, only adds more debt for our children to pay off,” Zinke said. “There’s a whole lot of money spent on a whole lot of nothing. The president continues to throw money to his liberal green energy donors to keep them afloat, while punishing Montana's natural resources and the good-paying jobs they support. Here’s an idea: Let’s keep hard working Montanans afloat. Rather than taxing families and jobs to death, let’s work together to figure out how to grow the economy, balance the budget, become energy independent, and lift our entire nation up. That’s what an all of the above energy policies will do, and that’s what I’m fighting for in Congress.”