WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-Arkansas) issued the following statement on President Obama’s 2012 Budget Proposal:

“Even with his much-heralded ‘spending freeze,’ President Obama’s budget still manages to propose $8.7 trillion in new spending over the next 10 years. This is why the American people have a hard time believing the administration’s freeze is more than just a PR stunt.”

“The American people demand that Washington exercises some real fiscal restraint, yet the President’s budget fails to meet this goal. Instead of listening to their call, President Obama tries to pass another big government budget off as responsible spending.”

“At a time when our economy continues to struggle to add jobs, President Obama wants to raise taxes on America’s job creators to pay for his agenda. These tax hikes will make it harder on the thousands of unemployed and underemployed Arkansans land better jobs, as small business owners will have to put more money toward taxes instead of growing their operations.”

“The most unfortunate part of this proposal is that the president completely ignores the suggestions of his own debt commission and reduces budget deficits by only a fraction of what was proposed. It makes you question whether his commitment to reducing the debt is real or just for show.”