At $16 trillion and climbing (more than $50,000 for every American), our national debt is a drag on our economy and a threat to our future. But when Republicans demanded serious spending cuts to begin addressing the debt, President Obama said: “We don't have a spending problem.” On the contrary – as Investor’s Business Daily points out – government spending is the “driving force” behind our debt crisis:

“[I]n its final report [Obama's debt commission] made clear that spending is the driving force behind the nation's debt crisis.

“Here's what the report said: ‘Even after the economy recovers, federal spending is projected to increase faster than revenues, so the government will have to continue borrowing money to spend.’ ...

“Meanwhile, a Government Accountability Office report concluded that spending is ‘on an unsustainable long-term fiscal path’ and blamed entitlements.

“And countless Congressional Budget Office reports have documented how, left unchecked, federal entitlement programs will soon swamp the entire budget.”

Yes, Mr. President – “there is a spending problem.” But the Democrats running Washington are looking the other way. Even though “our oversized and overspent federal government is a drag on economic growth and job creation,” The Hill says many Democrats are already calling (again) for “as much as $1 trillion in” higher taxes.

They’ve got it all wrong.

This chart from the American Enterprise Institute shows “it’s spending that’s above normal” while tax revenue is “right at its historical average of around 18%.” In other words: spending is the problem:

“Too many Americans are still out of work and Washington has too much debt,” said Speaker Boehner. “This is the year we need to work together to solve these problems” with “real spending cuts, meaningful reforms of the entitlement programs that are driving us deeper into debt, and a fairer, cleaner tax code.” As he said on the opening day of the 113th Congress: nothing is more important.