News for the Ninth - 01.29.2010 |
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| Local Blogs - News for the Ninth |
| Friday, 29 January 2010 |
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The President and the Majority in Congress have made a series of disastrous decisions in the last year that cost us millions of jobs and created an historic debt. The State of the Union Address was filled with the usual political rhetoric and political promises, but certainly few new ideas to repair the damage done to hard-working American families. We have heard these kinds of promises for months and still 10 percent of our people are out of work, our national debt is an incredible $12 trillion and growing, and the so-called stimulus package and national health care debate have been catastrophic failures. It is time for the President and his Majority in Congress to listen to American families who have clearly expressed their anger and frustration in places like Massachusetts, Virginia and New Jersey. During the worst recession in 75 years, families and small businesses have been forced to cut back and make tough choices, yet the President and the Majority in Congress last year supported a reckless agenda of fiscal irresponsibility including the debt laden stimulus package, bloated spending bills and zealous efforts to pass a government takeover of health and cap-and-tax legislation. As a freshman lawmaker, I understand that spending had been spiraling out of control for several years, which is why days after taking office I supported a constitutional amendment requiring the federal government to balance its budget, just like we do here in Missouri and you do at home with your budget. I pledge to continue supporting that measure. I do welcome the President’s call for a spending freeze and hope that it is a positive turning point in his Administration’s record of fiscal irresponsibility. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office just announced that this year’s budget deficit will reach $1.35 trillion and described our country’s fiscal situation as “unsustainable.”While a spending freeze is a step in the right direction, Congress and the Administration must do more. Unless we change course, the President’s economic policies will add more than $14 trillion to our national debt over the next ten years. My concern, and the concern of many of you who have contacted me, is that this spending freeze is just another public relations stunt. In the past, the President has publicly stated his opposition to a spending freeze. Like you, I am tired of mere lip service being paid to the challenges facing our families. If he does follow through on his suggestion, he will be freezing spending at record levels after increasing budgets at some departments like the EPA by 35 percent over the last two years. To me that is still unacceptable. If the President is sincere about wanting to embrace a bipartisan approach to job creation and economic growth, we should work together in Washington to rein in skyrocketing deficit spending that discourages investment and threatens to bankrupt our nation; allow individuals and businesses to keep more of their hard-earned tax dollars; and get out of the way and let American entrepreneurial genius lead the way to prosperity. That’s because hard-working people like you demand it, and I happen to believe you deserve it. |
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