THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

I am disappointed that the Republican Congress continues to strip away our fiscal discipline bill-by-bill by passing another in a series of costly tax cuts that, taken together, will spend our entire hard-earned surplus. This misguided plan leaves nothing for lengthening the life of Social Security and Medicare, nothing for a prescription drug benefit, nothing for education or other priorities, and would make it impossible for us to get America out of debt by 2012. In its latest action, the House passed a bill that does nothing for more than 80 percent of seniors while failing to act on a Medicare prescription drug benefit which would be available to all Seniors and people with disabilities.

This is the wrong approach. We can maintain our fiscal discipline while providing targeted tax relief to help families pay for college, long-term care, child care, build and modernize schools, and save for retirement. In the interest of fiscal responsibility, I will veto this legislation that threatens our ability to pay down the debt, strengthen Medicare and Social Security, and invest in education.

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