Portman Statement on CBO Report

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio), former director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and a member of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, issued the following statement regarding the newly released Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report: 

“When President Obama released his budget, it was built upon rosy economic projections.  As economic growth has slowed in the past few months, CBO is now acknowledging what we have all been saying for months - that President Obama’s economic policies are not bringing about the results promised, and that the U.S. economy continues to struggle. 

“Under the Obama Administration, we’ve seen more government growth and regulation, which stifles innovation and puts American employers at a disadvantage when trying to compete globally.  The CBO report, which increased the projected unemployment rate for 2012 through 2015, is another indicator Washington needs to enact pro-growth policies, such as those in the Senate Republican Jobs Plan, that will spur job creation and strengthen the economy.

“I hope that the Administration is willing to follow the more realistic CBO economic growth assumptions in the OMB’s mid-session review, because Washington needs to look at a true analysis of our fiscal situation, without the Administration’s rose-colored glasses shading reality.”