Fellow Utahns,
This past week the Senate began debate of my patent reform bill that is a good step to helping entrepreneurship in America. We also voted on a stop-gap measure to fund the federal government, which I opposed because we have to do more to cut spending. Meanwhile in the Senate Finance committee, we began the first of our year-long hearings on reforming the tax code. Above all this week I am reminded that our economy is fragile and we must fix the problems that have caused us to get where we are; tax rates that are too high, too much complexity in our tax code and outrageous government programs that cost too much.
Click here to watch my interview last week regarding Healthcare and Government spending.
Medicaid Expansion from ObamaCare to Cost Utah Taxpayers 1.2 Billion Over Next Decade
“With Utah and other states already struggling financially, expanding the unsustainable Medicaid program is inexcusable. But that is what the President and his Washington allies are doing, despite the fact that when Congress was debating the $2.6 trillion health law, Governor Herbert and other governors of both political parties made it clear that they could not afford a massive expansion of Medicaid. This is nothing short of a bait and switch aimed at making Utah and other states, which are already facing a collective $175 billion budget shortfall, foot the bill for this ill-conceived expansion. It’s time for Congress to peel back this program by putting states, not Washington, back in charge.” See full statement here.
Voting Against the Continuting Resolution to Fund the Federal Government
“The cuts in this bill are a start, but don’t go far enough to bring fiscal sanity back to Washington. Our national debt is more than $14 trillion and will hurt our economy and mortgage the future of our children and grandchildren unless we act now to put the brakes on this runaway spending.” Read the statementhere.
The Importance of Tax Reform
“We must reduce deficits and debt through spending reductions. Separately, we must promote tax reform. If we try to mix the two, we risk walking down the road to a back door tax increase. Though it is never clearly expressed, our friends on the other side, including President Obama, seem to take the opposite view. They are happy to combine these goals. They wish to balance the budget, but not through spending reductions. Rather, tax reform can provide the tax increases and additional revenue to balance the budget without spending restraint.” Read the full speech here.
Sincerely,
Orrin Hatch
