Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is questioning U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner this morning about the massive budget that was proposed Monday by President Obama. Grassley, a Republican, says the 3.8-trillion dollar spending plan would create a “negative environment” for America’s small businesses, which he says would otherwise be helping to speed an economic recovery.
Grassley says, “My focus will be on tax burden fueled by the continued increase in government spending and the impact it’s having on job creation and, of course, on the federal budget deficit.” He says the tendency in Washington is to raise spending and increase taxes — which is exactly what he says is going on in the president’s new budget.
Grassley says, “The explosion in spending is driving the deficit, $1.6-trillion this year in the president’s budget, and of course, I’m worried about this leading to hyper-inflation.” Small businesses create 70% of the new jobs in this country and Grassley says the new budget will hurt that trend.
“I believe Congress ought to back off the marginal tax rate hikes,” Grassley says. “Small businesses can’t recover if they’re buried in new taxes along with uncertainty about other tax increases, new mandates like health care, as an example, and a lot of new regulations.” Grassley says the president’s proposed budget has some tax relief that would encourage investment and hiring, but he says “the tax increases in the budget dwarf the tax relief.”
Grassley is the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, which is questioning Secretary Geithner today.