Media reports have come out recently that have suggested President Obama is considering proposing several different budgets to Congress.  Included in some of those budgets could include freezes and cuts on non essential funding for the upcoming fiscal year.  The Congressman applauds the President for these steps in the right direction and for taking fiscal responsibility seriously.  That is why Congressman Burton signed onto the following letter supporting spending freezes and cuts in the President's budget and looks forward to working with him in a bi-partisan manner.

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President Barack Obama

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW

Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Obama:

As you prepare to unveil your Fiscal Year 2011 Federal Budget, several recent media reports have indicated you are giving strong consideration to proposing a non-defense discretionary spending freeze or cut. We applaud you for this and look forward to working with you in a bipartisan fashion to get such a proposal passed by the House.

The budget you submitted last February would have doubled our national debt in five years and tripled it in 10, our country simply cannot sustain such spending. American families are feeling the pinch of difficult economic times.  They are taking the responsible approach, saving what they can and not recklessly spending the money they don’t have. Unfortunately, Washington has been taking the opposite approach. Last year our national deficit was $1.4 trillion, 3 times larger than any previous year’s deficit and roughly 10 percent of GDP, the highest level since World War II. If projections hold true, the deficit for this year will be even greater. Additionally, our national debt has ballooned to over $12 trillion, an increase of over 40 percent since January 2007; and each citizen’s share of our national debt will soon eclipse $40,000.

With record deficits, decreased revenues and out of control expenses - our government is facing dire circumstances. In FY09, the federal government spent the record amount of $3.5 trillion. In the first two months of FY10, the federal government ran up a deficit of $292 billion.  Only five times in U.S. history has the U.S. run a higher annual deficit than what the FY10 deficit equaled through just two months. In December, the $91.85 billion federal budget deficit was a record high for the month of December. This signified the 15^th straight month where the government’s expenses outpaced revenues. It is time to put a stop to the excessive spending in Washington, and by submitting a budget with spending freezes or cuts, you will be taking the first serious step in assuring the American people about our intention to get our financial house in order.

We realize that difficult choices will have to be made and significant resources will be needed to continue to keep Americans safe, to support our troops around the world and to provide resources to those soldiers returning home. However, many other federal agencies and non-essential programs saw a significant spending increase in the FY10 Omnibus spending bill. In fact, through the appropriations process spending for many of these agencies has increased close to 20 percent over the last two years. This doesn’t even take into account what was allocated in the almost $1 trillion so-called Stimulus. As such, any additional increases at this time are simply not a wise use of taxpayer money.

Again, we applaud your efforts to finally reduce the financial burden on future generations by taking a serious look at our national budget and holding current levels firm. It is time Washington stop spending and start finding ways to help put Americans back to work. We look forward to working with you on future initiatives to do just that, while keeping the fiscal condition of our government order.