Representative Scott DesJarlais, M.D. (TN-04) issued the following statement regarding the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) updated Budget and Economic Outlook. Today’s report shows that the 2012 deficit will exceed $1 trillion for the fourth straight year and is on a path to grow by $10 trillion over the next ten years.

“For over forty months our nation’s unemployment rate has been above eight percent and our economy is stuck in the worst recovery in seventy years.  Unfortunately, today’s report by the CBO cements the fact that President Obama’s policies of higher taxes and out of control government spending has done little to reverse this economic slide. In fact, job creators I talk with say that these record deficits create a climate of uncertainty that leads them to keep capital on the sidelines.

“This is now the fourth consecutive year that our nation will be forced to borrow more than $1 trillion from countries like China to pay for this president’s spending spree. That is a $1 trillion burden that is placed squarely on the backs of our children and grandchildren.

“Thanks to the refusal of the Democrat controlled Senate to pass a budget after more than three years; this president has never presided over our country with a budget in place.  Further, the president’s own budget proposal received zero votes in both the House and Senate. Clearly we need a new direction. House Republicans have made an important first step in passing a budget that reigns in spending while helping to save and strengthen Medicare.”