Our Federal and State governments are over-burdened with increasing amounts of debt. The Federal government has buried current and future generations of Americans with more than $13 trillion in debt, without any end in sight. In two years the total national debt is forecasted to exceed the entire $14.2 trillion Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the United States.
It is irresponsible to burden our children with this level of debt. Congress currently borrows $0.40 for every dollar it spends; this is the equivalent of a family of four earning $75,000 but spending $125,000 every year. The national debt is not just a domestic crisis, either. It is the single biggest threat to national security, according to Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This summer he reported that taxpayers in 2012 will pay around $600 billion in interest on the national debt, the equivalent of one year of the defense budget.
This reckless spending must end.
There are two competing views on how we address this challenge: Raise taxes to redistribute income and savings. Or, alternatively, put money back in the hands of individuals and small business owners, entrusting them to make their own investment decisions and create jobs. Erskine Bowles – a chair of President Obama’s debt commission and former chief of staff to President Clinton – recently warned that Congress can’t tax its way out of a national debt crisis. He’s right.
To put our government back on firm financial ground we must drastically cut spending. Spending levels should return to 20% of Gross Domestic Product, the historical average, instead of letting it balloon to nearly 25% as currently proposed.
Clearly, our first priority must be to actually have a budget. For the first time since 1974, last year Congress decided not to have a budget despite being in the midst of a global recession and domestic economic crisis. As a small business owner, this is irresponsible.
Congress should exercise fiscal discipline just like businesses and households across America and be good stewards of taxpayers’ funds. We cannot tax our way out of this debt burden. Instead, we must enact policies that grow our economy and our income. This will greatly relieve the price that children and grandchildren will have to pay. In Congress, I am working to lead us out of our spending addiction and get our country back on track.
Bob with Institute for Truth in Accounting CEO Sheila Weinberg
