Washington, DC - Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) today helped the House pass a budget that serves as a long-term economic plan that will get the U.S. economy working again and put the country on a path towards renewed prosperity.  The budget that Hinchey and his House colleagues passed makes critical investments in solar and other forms of renewable energy, education, and health care that will help ensure long-term economic prosperity for the United States. 

"Our country is facing record budget deficits, a financial crisis, and a wide array of other problems that need to be cleaned up," Hinchey said. "It will take time and a lot of tough decisions to turn our economy around.  The budget that my colleagues and I in the House passed makes those tough decisions and invests in renewable energy, education, and health care, which will spur economic growth and lead to prosperity for decades to come.  Investing in education will ensure that our children are able to lead in the global economy of tomorrow.  Additionally, by offering affordable health care, we are helping to relieve a huge financial burden facing so many American families.  Investments in renewable energy will help create new jobs and also ultimately lead to lower energy costs, which are also the source of financial strain for many Americans."

The House-passed long-term economic plan will cut the federal deficit nearly two-thirds by 2013.  It cuts taxes for middle class families by $1.5 trillion.  It will create jobs and grow the U.S. economy with targeted investments and reforms in health care, clean energy and education while reducing non-defense discretionary spending to its lowest level in nearly half a century.  This long-term economic plan ushers in a new era of honesty in budgeting by fully accounting for known expenses like the military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan that the previous administrations left out in order to make the deficit look smaller.  This budget puts an unprecedented effort on rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in government spending.

“This country cannot afford a continuation of the failed policies of the last eight years,” Hinchey said. “With the long-term economic plan contained within this budget we are making the tough choices to turn our economy around, create jobs, reform health care, move toward energy independence, and invest in education.”

When President Obama came into office he inherited a record deficit from the Bush administration, which had squandered a $5.6 trillion budget surplus.  The national debt is double what it was when Bush took office, wages are flat and unemployment is skyrocketing.