Senator Donnelly reflects on budget, sequester

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WANE) - Indiana U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly said Americans' ability to learn new skills and talents will be a big part in growing the country's economy.  The Senator shared his thoughts on the budget and how to reduce the deficit Friday with NewsChannel 15 while paying a visit to the Summit City.

Donnelly said he believes the nation has unlimited opportunities in the future, and stressed that people need to have the right skills to take advantage of the opportunities.

"I think everybody from our nation, whatever age we re, that we can improve our opportunities and improve the talents we have ourselves," the Senator said.  "When we do that our horizons will continue to grow and grow.  I think we're going to see a tremendous growth as we move forward.  We're just working right now through getting everything straightened out in terms of the budget, the budget deficit, and continuing to be able to move forward."

Fixing the budget is underway.  Donnelly said Washington is close to "The Grand Bargain," which is a four-trillion dollar reduction to the deficit over a 10-year period.

"We're very close to that right now," the senator said.  "Now what we are working on is can we do this in a smarter, better, more thoughtful way that will result in more jobs and less economic pain."

American energy resources was one way Donnelly hoped to boost the American economy.  He said enough natural gas and oil has been found on American soil in recent years to last the country into the next century.  He said improving technology led to the discoveries.

"When those prices in natural gas come down, it will make our manufacturing more competitive," Donnelly said.  "We see businesses from all over the world coming back to Indiana and coming back to our country, because of the reasonable cost in energy, the increasing technological skills that are here, and what we need to do is continue to grow them more."

Donnelly said he's aware more cuts have to take place, but added another way to reduce the deficit is to increase the government's revenue by building a stronger economy.

"We need a package that significantly reduces spending," he said.  "Additionally, we need to make sure we have enough revenue to pay our bills.  I don't think our children who are 10, 11, 12 years old ought to pay when they're 30, 35 years old, be paying off bills that were ran off today.  We have an obligation to make our books balance."

Donnelly said he hopes a long-term deal to reduce spending can be reached by both parties some time in the next year.

Coats, Donnelly Introduce Senate Version of Messer Budget Transparency Bill

Indiana U.S. Senators Dan Coats and Joe Donnelly hope a bill passes that requires the president to include the cost-per-taxpayer of the deficit each year.  The Senators introduced the Senate version of legislation authored by Congressman Luke Messer, a Republican for Indiana's sixth district.

"Senator Coats and I are together on this," said Donnelly Friday afternoon.  "It's a bi-partisan effort that there's a number there of the consequences to each taxpayer.  Here's the amount it effects each taxpayer by.   What that does is, instead of the trillions and billions and all those type of numbers, it comes down to a number that is easily understandable for everybody.  Here's how it effects me personally."

"We have seen record-high deficits year after year, and it's time Washington is honest with the American people about the seriousness of our financial crisis," said Coats.  "Congress should be focused on bringing down the deficit and growing the economy.  Our legislation will require the administration to be transparent with taxpayers about how much Washington's spending will cost them."

The bicameral legislation passed the House of Representatives on March 5.  The Hoosier Senators said they'll push for immediate Senate consideration.

Click here to see a copy of the legislation.