Spending

If the federal government was a private business, it would be bankrupt. We have embarked upon a multi-decade long spending spree and our credit card is maxed out. We are now struggling to keep our promises to our seniors, to our retired military, and to our creditors. We have ceded our place in the world as a creditor nation and have become the world’s largest debtor nation. Our dollar has deflated to a fraction of its historic value. Inflation, despite glossed over reports of the Federal Reserve, is upon us and spiraling. We have rung up trillions of dollars in debt that has crippled our nation and impacts our national security.

If the federal government was a private business, it would be bankrupt. We have embarked upon a multi-decade long spending spree and our credit card is maxed out.

We must reform how we conduct our government. There must be a serious discussion of separating our “wants” from our “needs”. Much as a family does when the budget gets tight, government must tighten its belt as well.

I have been a co-sponsor of a balanced budget amendment. I have also been advocate for the recent cut, cap, and balance legislation that would start reducing our spending outlays, cap the debt ceiling, and balance the federal budget.

In 2009, I opposed the ill-fated and now notorious “stimulus” plan. This legislation placed an additional $787 billion atop already record debt levels, without any realistic promise of actual long term job creation or stabilization of our economy. If government spending was truly the answer to our problems, we should now have a booming economy. Despite the Obama spending spree, reported unemployment lingers around 9%, and real unemployment hangs closer to 20%. Spending only makes our economic woes worse.

The only way to get out of a hole is to stop digging. We owe our children and grandchildren better than to burden them with debt tomorrow for our “wants” today. It’s well past time to cut the federal credit card.