America is at a crucial crossroads in trying to adhere to the blueprint established in the House-passed budget resolution, Rep. Jodey Arrington told "Fox News Sunday."
The Texas Republican, who is the House Budget Committee chairman, said that "this is a pivotal moment for our country. It's a generational opportunity to get our fiscal house in order and, in fact, the president has called for us to put our country on a path to balance. That is part of the full America First agenda, and it's reflected in the House budget resolution."
Arrington explained that "we can't get to the president's rocket ship economy, we cannot usher in the Golden Age, in fact we risk a sovereign debt crisis if we don't deal with the unsustainable deficits and national debt."
The congressman said that regarding the next steps in the reconciliation process, "I'm convinced that if we take the cost of tax cuts and defense and border spending and we achieve and exceed our budget targets for offsetting those through revenue to the Treasury as a result of the pro-growth policies in the budget reconciliation bill and the deficit spending reduction through entitlement reform ... we will bend the curve on debt-to-GDP and deficit-to-GDP."
Arrington emphasized that "the secretary of the Treasury says we have to stabilize the debt and give confidence to the bond markets, and we have to go from 7% deficit-GDP to 3 1/2%. So, if we follow the framework that we laid out in the budget resolution, then we will restore fiscal health."
He reiterated that although "it won't get us out of the debt hole overnight, it is a good first step and a down payment for our kids to actually be on good fiscal footing, a sustainable path, and enjoy the same opportunities and freedoms that we have. So, the House is going to drive it. If we achieve that framework and those budget targets, we will improve the fiscal health of our country indeed."
Responding to Democratic Party warnings that Medicaid is in danger as the GOP looks to cut spending, Arrington said, "The question is, will we be susceptible to the fear mongering and the false rhetoric [of the Democrats]?" He added that's the "same tired play they run."
He stressed that "there is a tremendous amount of waste and fraud. In fact, the Government Accountability Office says upwards of $500 billion over the 10-year budget window is just in Medicaid."
The House Budget Committee chairman reiterated that "you've got hundreds of billions siphoned out for other purposes than serving the Medicaid beneficiary. There is no work requirement for able-bodied adults like there is in every other means-tested welfare program."
He said that this means "we actually hurt access to the pregnant, blind, disabled, the most vulnerable, the poorest and sickest among our fellow Americans as a result of the structure of the program. We can save over $1.5 trillion without touching a dime of the benefit funding."