Country can't afford Obama policies, budget

On April 13, 2011, President Obama revealed his plan to cut the national deficit. In an address at George Washington University, he said, “We have to live within our means. We have to reduce our deficit, and we have to get back on a path that will allow us to pay down our debt. And we have to do it in a way that protects the recovery, protects the investments we need to grow, create jobs, and helps us win the future.”

And now, well over a year later, our national debt has surpassed $16 trillion for the first time in American history. That number equates to $50,950 in debt for every single person in the United States. If these disturbing statistics are any indication of the president’s idea of living within our means, the thought of his administration in the White House for four more years is truly frightening.

Our financial house is spiraling out of control and instead of facing that reality, the president is pushing a destructive agenda that includes a massive tax hike at the end of this year that would result in an increase in taxes on small businesses of $232 billion in 2013. The last thing we need to be doing is holding small businesses back from infusing new jobs into our economy, trapping them in federal bureaucracy.

In August, I voted for the Red Tape Reduction and Small Business Job Creation Act, which would decrease the Obama Administration’s ability to place harmful regulations on America’s small businesses. By combating the red tape that restrains our economy, House Republicans are working hard to get America back to work. Instead of placing more harmful regulations on America’s job creators, we should be fighting the burdensome and unnecessary red tape that is restraining our economy.

Government spending has increased by $800 billion in only two years under President Obama. The Republican House has passed a budget that would cut government spending to shield taxpayer dollars from unnecessary and reckless wasting. We cannot afford the president’s budget plan, which is fueled by more squandering away of money we simply don’t have.

12.5 million Americans are out of a job and our unemployment rate has hovered over eight percent for 43 consecutive months. That is unacceptable.  President Obama’s misguided policies have continued to lead us further into this economic crisis, and the American people have endured this long enough. The Obama Administration’s job-killing policies have plagued this country for far too long, and the state of our economy is a direct result of his failed principles.

Gibbs serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the House Agriculture Committee.

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