WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) made the following statement on President Obama’s belated FY 2015 budget proposal:

“If President Obama’s budget proposal was enacted, it would turn the clock back on the little progress we have made toward reining in Washington’s reckless spending. It is a step backward that we cannot afford to take.

An honest discussion on our spending priorities and ideas to get our economy moving again is well overdue and a budget proposal to fit that bill would have been welcome. However, instead of engaging, the President has opted to appeal to his political base. His disregard for the agreement Washington reached to reduce its excessive spending is troublesome and his proposed tax increases will cause additional job losses across the country. It offers little in the way of real help to the millions of Americans struggling to get by in the stagnant economy created by President Obama’s policies.

This reckless route would increase total spending by 63 percent from today’s levels and add $8.3 trillion to the debt over the next 10 years. Instead of following that course, we need to focus on ideas that get our economy moving again, put Americans back to work and raise the quality of life for those struggling to makes ends meet.

When you take the same approach year after year, you get the same result. And just as it has been in previous years, it's safe to predict that the only vote in favor of the President’s budget will be his own.”