 Fiscal Discipline -- Reducing Spending and Cutting Our National Debt
Runaway spending, unsustainable growth of entitlement programs, mounting budget deficits, and historic levels of debt impede our economic growth in the present and imperil our future. We must invest federal dollars sparingly and wisely, and reverse the course of increased deficits to restore confidence among job creators and get our fiscal house in order.
Under Speaker Nancy Pelosi's leadership, the liberal Congress has dramatically increased spending and extended the reach of government. We simply cannot afford this Congress's expensive and over-ambitious agenda. I have opposed bloated government spending initiatives including:
- the $787 billion so-called "Stimulus Bill"
- "Cash for Clunkers,"
- the Farm Bill,
- the national energy tax, "Cap & Trade" bill
- the $1 trillion health care takeover bill
- the fiscal year 2010 Omnibus spending bill that increased discretionary domestic spending by nearly 12 percent over the previous year's funding level
- the second stimulus bill, "the Son of Stimulus" Bill
I support a Constitutional Amendment to require a balanced Federal budget, and I support the Line Item Veto. I have championed efforts to require Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds which have been repaid to the Treasury to be used to decrease our nation's burgeoning deficits, and reduce the debt limit by the amount saved by ending TARP.
From January 2007 to January 2010, the deficit swelled from $161 billion to $1.6 trillion. During that time, I have rejected reckless budget proposals that would double the national debt in five years and triple it in ten. Instead, I have supported an alternative budget that would place our nation on a fiscally sustainable path by setting realistic spending priorities and establishing tough enforcement mechanisms.
In February, Congress instituted a record $1.9-trillion increase in the Federal Government's statutory debt limit -- the fifth such increase since January 2007, pushing the government's total debt ceiling to $14.3 trillion, roughly the size of the entire U.S. economy. This is simply unacceptable and can't be maintained.
The best way to let our families keep their money is to stop the government from spending more of it. The best way to help businesses grow is to make sure the massive national debt burden doesn't prevent them from accessing credit. Fiscal responsibility will take unwavering commitment to making tough decisions regarding spending, entitlement programs, and addressing budget deficits.
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