Minnesota’s Eighth District Congressman-elect Rick Nolan Tuesday urged members Congress and Pres. Barack Obama to negotiate a budget agreement that avoids a “fiscal cliff”, puts jobs and the middle class Americans first, and moves the nation back to prosperity and a balanced budget.
Nolan said in a statement that the “fiscal cliff” agreement set to take effect in January includes more than a trillion dollars in tax increases and spending cuts over the next decade. Nolan said in a statement.
“According to the Congressional Budget Office, the current agreement will cause a devastating loss of middle class income, cost millions of Americans their jobs, set back our economic recovery and plunge our nation back into a recession,” said Nolan.
And that cannot be allowed to happen, he said. Instead, he urged negotiations to consider seven guiding principles that he said are consistent with the message voters across America sent on Election Day.
Nolan offered these principals:
1. The primary focus must be on creating good paying jobs, growing the economy and rebuilding the middle class.
2. Both spending cuts and revenue must be part of the equation.
3. The end product must put us on the road to a balanced budget.
4. The revenue side must eliminate the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.
5. Principal spending cuts must come through ending the so-called “wars of choice” and “nation building abroad.”
6. A portion of the savings and new revenue must be allocated to rebuilding America’s infrastructure.
7. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits must be protected. These programs are not responsible for today’s fiscal crisis. Any changes necessary to protect future benefits can be considered once the immediate fiscal crisis is resolved.
“I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to forge real solutions to America’s debt and budget difficulties during the upcoming 113th Congress,” said Nolan.
