Press Releases

(Honolulu, HI) – U.S. Congressman Ed Case (Hawai‘i – District 1) today joined liked-minded colleagues in unveiling a comprehensive plan to restore fiscal responsibility to our federal budget.

Case, a member of the Blue Dog Democrat Coalition and Co-Chair, along with colleague Congressman Ben McAdams of Utah of the Coalition’s  Task Force on Fiscal Responsibility and Government Reform, rolled out the Blue Dog Blueprint for Fiscal Reform. The Blueprint outlines an extensive list of priorities toward reducing our growing budget deficits and bringing down our national debt. Case and McAdams also led an hour-long presentation on the House floor to highlight the issues and priorities.

“It is no stretch to maintain that at no point in our nation’s history have we operated our federal government in as fiscally irresponsible a manner,” said Case.

“We must address the national budget, which is not only fiscally unsustainable today, but will cripple future generations. I am proud to work with my fellow Blue Dogs, and anyone else who shares our concerns, to advance these and other commonsense solutions to tackle this national crisis.”

The Blue Dogs are a coalition of Democratic House Members who, while they often differ across the political spectrum on various issues, focus collectively on fiscal responsibility, a strong national defense and commonsense solutions to practical problems. Founded in 1996, the Blue Dogs now number 27 Members. Case was also a member of the Blue Dogs during his prior service in Congress.

The Coalition’s blueprint focuses on the rapidly deteriorating national debt and deficit. Today, the national debt is more than $22 trillion: an unprecedented amount. On its current path, next year the federal government will spend more servicing interest on the debt than all federal funding that supports children in the United States, and in a few more years will exceed all federal defense spending. Earlier this week, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) projected that the federal budget deficit will exceed $1 trillion this year. 

“In a time when it seems like no one in Congress wants to talk about how we can get our nation out of this fiscal mess, the Blue Dog Coalition has continued to be the voice of fiscal responsibility by putting forward several concrete policy solutions, including the bipartisan Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) rule, the No Budget, No Pay Act, and a Balanced Budget Amendment”, said the Coalition. Over the next several months, Coalition members will bring forward other priorities included in the Blue Dog Blueprint for Fiscal Reform in the form of legislation.

“We are putting forward policies that increase transparency and hold Congress accountable to taxpayers,” said McAdams. “It is past time for a serious conversation about reducing deficits and debt and returning the federal budget to a sustainable path.”

The main points of the Blue Dog Blueprint for Fiscal Reform include the following:

1. Require a balanced budget, with flexibility to borrow in true emergencies or other acute national needs.
2. Pass an annual budget and all appropriations bills in regular  order and on time to avoid any further government shutdowns.
3. Follow Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) requiring budget-neutral tax and spending decisions.
4. Increase Congressional oversight of federal expenditures.
5. Set aside a federal rainy-day fund. 
6. Restrict emergency funding measures to true emergencies.
7. Require all legislation to receive a nonpartisan cost estimate.  
8. End the practice of partisan, short-term tax policy.

Coalition members have introduced, or will introduce, these and other proposals in specific proposed legislation.

NOTE: The Blue Dog Coalition is an official caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives comprised of fiscally-responsible Democrats, who are leading the way to find commonsense solutions.

They are pragmatic Democrats, appealing to the mainstream values of the American public. The Blue Dogs are dedicated to pursuing fiscally-responsible policies, ensuring a strong national defense for our country, and transcending party lines to get things done for the American people. Visit our website to learn more, and get the latest news updates by following us on Twitter or liking us on Facebook.