While the Sessions and Mulvaney bills put forward the same topline numbers as those in the president\u2019s budget, neither offered any specifics. The Sessions legislation was 56 pages long; actual budgets are closer to 2,000 pages long.<\/p>\n
Thus, a White House official said, the Sessions proposal was a \u201cshell that could be filled with a number of things that could hurt our economy and hurt the middle class,\u201d a White House official said. \u201cFor example, rather than ending tax breaks for millionaires his budget could hit the revenue target by raising taxes on the middle class and rather than ending wasteful programs, his budget could hit its spending target with severe cuts to important programs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the president\u2019s budget,\u201d said the top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, Sen. Kent Conrad of South Dakota,\u00a0 indicating the voluminous budget proposal President Obama offered. \u201cThis is what Sen. Sessions has presented as being the president\u2019s budget,\u201d he said,\u00a0 indicating the much slimmer document.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s readily apparent there is a big difference between the president\u2019s budget, which I hold in my hands, and what Sen. Sessions has presented as being the president\u2019s budget. This is not the president\u2019s budget. So, of course, we\u2019re not going to support it. It\u2019s not what the president proposed.\u201d<\/p>\n