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Dim view of budget made by area GOP

Brown says budget addresses need for science and innovation.

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By Lynn Hulsey, Staff Writer 9:11 PM Monday, February 13, 2012

The Miami Valley’s all-Republican congressional delegation and the state’s Republican senator blasted President Barack Obama’s 2013 budget proposal on Monday using terms like “deeply immoral” and “a gloomy reflection of his failed policies.”

But Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio said the budget deserves a thorough review by Congress with an eye toward creating jobs and boosting economic development.

“I’m encouraged that the administration is giving manufacturing the attention it deserves by proposing a significant increase in science and innovation including a new advanced manufacturing initiative,” Brown said. “It’s critical that we take steps to reduce the deficit without interfering with the past 23 months of private sector job creation.”

Obama on Monday released his $3.8 trillion budget, a plan that raises taxes on the wealthy; closes corporate loopholes; cuts discretionary spending and the military budget; boosts spending on roads and schools; offers tax credits to small businesses; and funding for job training and manufacturing research and development. Obama projects the budget deficit will drop to $901 billion next year.

“The president’s budget is a gloomy reflection of his failed policies of the past, not a bold plan for America’s future,” said House Speaker John Boehner, R-West Chester Twp.

He said the budget relies on a “failed ‘stimulus’ approach” and he criticized Obama for not pulling back from health-care reform.

Republicans took direct aim at Obama’s proposal to let tax cuts expire for those earning $250,000 annually and eliminate some tax breaks for millionaires.

“Even with budget gimmicks and the massive tax hikes liberals have sought for years, his budget never balances,” said U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana. “Dumping so much debt on the heads of our children is deeply immoral.”

U.S. Rep. Steve Austria, R-Beavercreek, said, “Washington does not have a taxing problem. Washington has a spending problem” and that the proposed tax increases will hurt job growth.

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, also criticized the projected deficit. Portman called Obama’s projected savings from the drawdown in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq “gimmicks” and said the president proposes “the highest level of spending since World War II.”

Turner called the proposals “non-starters.”

“While I laud his effort to increase manufacturing here in America, his overall vision for America’s future seems to be unparalleled levels of debt and no path for a balanced budget,” Turner said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7455 or lhulsey@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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