Spending Cuts and Debt
Government spending is out of control and our country is literally mortgaging our children’s future. In recent years, Democrats along with many misguided Republicans have tried to spend and borrow our way to prosperity, creating massive deficits and leaving our country in trillions of dollars of debt. Our government needs to cut up the credit cards, balance the budget, and reduce the deficit.
I have fought for spending cuts and common sense solutions to rein in our out-of-control debt since being elected to the House of Representatives. Previous Congresses and Administrations have used deficit spending to drive our national debt to over $15 trillion, or nearly $48,000 for every man, woman, and child in America. This is a burden our children and grandchildren will have to bear.
I firmly believe that the federal government should have to live within its means like families and businesses do every day. I have been dissatisfied with the level of spending cuts offered thus far in Congress, and believe that short-term resolutions will not help us rein in federal spending. I opposed leadership on multiple spending bills during the first session of the 112th Congress, because I believe they did not go far enough to end our country’s spending problem. The bills that I have opposed include:
- H.J.Res.44, the first short-term Continuing Resolution for Fiscal Year 2011
- H.J.Res.48, the second short-term Continuing Resolution for Fiscal Year 2011
- S.365, the Budget Control Act (debt limit deal)
- H.R. 1473, the final version of Fiscal Year 2011 Appropriations
- H.R. 2112, Fiscal Year 2012 Minibus
- H.R. 2608, the Continuing Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2012
- H.R. 3672, the Final Fiscal Year 2012 Appropriations
- Cut, Cap, Balance: I was an original signer of the Cut, Cap, and Balance Pledge because I strongly believe that this plan contains exactly the type of revolutionary spending reforms that prevent our children and grandchildren from inheriting mountains of debt. One-time spending cuts will simply not be enough to avert the coming crisis. Neither will empty promises of future spending cuts. Only permanent reforms will change the current direction that we are heading and the answer is spending cuts now, enforceable spending caps, and a balanced budget amendment. I did vote in favor of H.R. 2560, the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011 when it reached the House floor during the first session of the 112th Congress. This plan included immediate spending cuts, future caps on spending relative to GDP, and a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution. Unfortunately, the Democrat controlled Senate tabled the bill without even allowing it to be debated. I will continue to support Cut, Cap, and Balance as the best plan to get federal spending under control.
For more information concerning my work and views on the issues of Spending Cuts and Debt, please contact my Washington, DC office.
I look forward to your feedback.
Thank you.