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| Kirk Has Worries About Federal Budget |
An Illinois congressman has told the Chinese government that the federal budget is wrong, and he says the Chinese are concerned. U.S. Rep. Mark S. Kirk (R-Highland Park) danced around the question when asked about talks he had with Chinese officials.
While in China, Kirk was told by government officials there that they are worried about the U.S. economy. But treasury secretary Tim Geithner says the Chinese expressed confidence in the U.S. economy.
When asked about the details at a press conference in Chicago, Kirk didn't directly answer the question. "What I'll do is I'll confine my concerns about the accounting measures of the federal budget to Washington, D.C.," Kirk said. "I simply reflected what they have read in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times."
Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, Kirk said he told the Chinese not to trust budget numbers proposed by the Obama administration. "One of the messages I had, because we need to build trust and confidence in our No. 1 creditor, is that the budget numbers that the U.S. government had put forward should not be believed. The Congress is actually gonna spend quite a bit more than what's in the budget, and the health-care bill probably being the lead driver of additional spending by the Congress," Kirk said.
He believes that both the U.S. government and the Chinese government don't want to create a panic. Kirk has said that there is growing concern that "the United States may not borrow $1.8 trillion, it may borrow even more, especially if it passes additional legislation on the speaker's table, and that begins to look unsustainable."
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) says he doesn't understand why Kirk thinks the budget is not believable. "I don’t know what Congressman Kirk is referring to here because we have a pretty open process here," Durbin said. "There are several different groups that look at our budget numbers it isn’t just the president’s best estimates. There are independent agencies that do as well."
China holds about $800 billion in U.S. Treasury bonds, more than any other country.
(Illinois Radio Network)
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| 06 16 09 by Newsroom |
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