Climbing the Hill

Today is a big day in the budget world as the House and Senate Budget Committees kicked off Congressional action on the federal budget with their markups of the budget resolutions.  We are very pleased with these respective "Chairman’s marks" as they are 98 percent in line with our proposal.  And most importantly, the Congressional proposals accomplish the President’s four top priorities in the budget: reducing the costs of health care while boosting quality and coverage; giving our kids a better education so they can succeed in the global economy; investing in clean energy and reducing our reliance on foreign oil; and cutting the deficit we inherited in half before the end of the President’s first term.

I started the day with a conference call with reporters to talk about the House and Senate plans. In the spirit of openness, the complete transcript is here (pdf).  If you’d like to hear my opening comments click here (wav).

As the budget resolutions move from committee to the House and Senate floor, I’ll be sure to keep blogging about what’s going on.