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July 19, 2011
Lee: After Vote, President Has Some Explaining to Do
After the House passes the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act, as I expect them to do, the President will have to explain to the American people why he, Harry Reid, and Senate Democrats are blocking the increase in the debt ceiling they requested. So far, we have heard that the President opposes immediate spending cuts and a constitutional amendment that requires the federal government to balance it budget, which puts him directly at odds with the majority of Americans.
July 19, 2011
Democrats and the Balanced Budget Amendment — Day Lee Briefing 7/19/2011
Unlike the President, some Democrats do support a balanced budget.
July 19, 2011
Cut, Cap, Balance – Giving the President What He Wants and What He Needs
Today, the House will vote on a common-sense, reasonable compromise to raise the debt ceiling by $2.4 trillion. In giving the President every penny of debt ceiling he has requested, Republicans have asked for immediate spending cuts and a multi-year framework to balance the federal budget. Even before the House has begun debate on the measure, the President announced he planned to veto the bill if it came to his desk. One has to wonder why the President believes that spending cuts and balanced budgets are “unrealistic policy goals”.
July 18, 2011
Pledge or Plunge — Day Lee Briefing 7/18/2011
First, Congress must make immediate spending cuts that will significantly reduce the deficit. Next, it must enact spending caps that put the federal government on a glide path toward a balanced budget. And finally, Congress must pass a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution that forces Congress to spend no more than it takes in each year, limits spending as a percentage of the GDP, and requires a supermajority to increase taxes or raise the debt ceiling.
July 14, 2011
The Worst Recovery in Modern Times — Day Lee Briefing 7/14/2011

Today’s Agenda Senator Lee will give a floor speech on the Democrats’ refusal to propose a budget and his legislation to grow the economy, the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act.  […]
July 14, 2011
Lee Demands President to Explain Social Security Threat — Floor Speech — 07/14/2011
Another thing that we face right now, that’s something that I find completely unacceptable, is the fact that amidst all of this debate and discussion that we’ve had in recent weeks about the debt limit, amidst the offer on the part of what are now most of the Republicans in the United States Senate to raise the debt limit under the circumstances that I’ve outlined, the President of the United States responded to those offers by threatening, promising perhaps, to cut Social Security benefits to current retirees if the debt limit is not immediately raised and raised only consistent with
July 14, 2011
Lee Demands President to Explain Social Security Threat
That begs the question, why are Social Security beneficiaries the first to be threatened? Why is it their checks that the President is threatening to withhold first? There is no explanation to this that he’s offered, and I hereby demand one. I think our current retirees deserve more than to be used as pawns in a high-stakes political game; one that uses fear and uncertainty and doubt rather than reason and discussion and debate and willingness to compromise.
July 13, 2011
Going for the Jugular: President Obama Doesn’t Have to Choose to Cut Social Security Benefits
President Obama is now threatening to cut Social Security payments if the debt ceiling is not increased. Under the law, the President and Secretary Geithner have great discretion to direct funds in the case the debt ceiling is not raised, so Americans should take his threat seriously. Currently the United States borrows roughly $125 billion every month. Instead of cutting Social Security for America’s seniors and disabled men, women, and children, as the President proposes, I have identified almost 20 line items in the budget he could trim instead.
July 13, 2011
No More Gimmicks — Day Lee Briefing 7/13/2011

Today’s Agenda Roll Call votes are expected today on the Democrats’ motion to raise taxes and on a motion to move to the Mil-Con Appropriations bill.  Senator Lee is giving […]
July 12, 2011
First Things First — Day Lee Briefing 7/12/2011
If you’re creating a budget, what’s the first thing you need to know: How much you have or how much you want to spend? The answer to this question exposes a fundamental difference between how Republicans and Democrats approach the nation’s finances. And it was on full display last week in the Senate.