SUNUNU VOTES AGAINST BUDGET THAT CREATES JOBS, INVESTS IN MIDDLE CLASS, VETERANS, CLEAN ENERGY

For Immediate Release

June 4, 2008

Contact: Matthew Miller, 202-485-3123

Hannah August, 202-485-3129

SUNUNU VOTES AGAINST BUDGET THAT CREATES JOBS, INVESTS IN MIDDLE CLASS, VETERANS, CLEAN ENERGY

Opposes key domestic priorities, fiscal responsibility

John Sununu voted this morning against a federal budget that invests in clean, renewable energy, gives middle class families needed tax cuts, provides vital funds for our nation’s veterans and invests in new jobs – all while balancing the budget in five years. Instead, Sununu opted to continue the failed Bush policies that have produced $4-per-gallon gasoline and stifled economic growth, while putting our children and grandchildren further in debt to China.

“The budget is a reflection of our nation’s priorities, and today John Sununu stood squarely against the values of Granite Staters,” DSCC spokesman Matthew Miller said. “John Sununu had an opportunity today to create jobs and invest in energy independence, but like George Bush, he continues to put special interests’ priorities ahead of middle class Americans’.  Maybe from the corner office, Bush’s America seems like it’s on the right path, but around New Hampshire’s kitchen tables, families are ready for a new course.”

Sununu Opts for Continuing Failed Bush Policies Rather than Middle Class Values

• Clean energy.  Sununu voted against major new investments in clean energy and the new jobs they create.
• Jobs.  Sununu voted against investing in new, good-paying construction and green collar jobs.
• Middle class tax cuts.  Sununu voted against an extension of the child tax credit, against marriage penalty relief, and against lower income taxes for all families, refusing to help middle class families until multi-millionaires get more tax breaks averaging $120,000 per year.
• Roads and bridges.  Sununu voted against a $2.5 billion investment to create new jobs building and repairing the roads and bridges that are the backbone of our economy.
• Affordable college.  Sununu voted against an extension of tuition tax credits that helps make college more affordable to middle class families.
• Close down offshoring tax shelters.  Sununu voted against shutting down tax shelters that let U.S. corporations evade billions in taxes by re-incorporating in the Cayman Islands and other offshore locations.
• Veterans. Sununu voted against a budget that included $3.3 billion more than the Bush budget for veterans’ programs in FY09, covering the amount veterans’ groups have identified as necessary to address shortfalls in health care, prosthetic research, benefits backlogs, and construction. The Bush Republicans’ favored budget submitted by the President would have raised premiums and copayments on active-duty military service members and their families.  The budget Sununu rejected blocks those cost increases.

Sununu Against Fiscal Responsibility

• The national debt has risen $3.7 trillion since Bush took office, yet Sununu voted against a balanced budget that would stop borrowing from China and Saudi Arabia, instead asking future generations to pay the bills.  The average New Hampshire family pays $1,900 in taxes each year simply to pay the interest on the Bush-Sununu $9 trillion national debt.  [U.S. Treasury Department, accessed 3/14/08; Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 5/15/07; Census Bureau, 2006 American Community Survey; House Budget Committee, 6/27/07]