Tom Mullins
Speaking of Congress, Ronald Reagan said, “You could say they are spending like drunken sailors, but that would be unfair to sailors because they are spending their own money.” In 2009, Congress racked up a $1.4 trillion deficit for the year. Our collective national debt is now $13.2 trillion and rising daily.
How is it going to be paid? It will be through taxes and inflation, sometimes called the silent tax, which will burden future generations to the point the debt has been called fiscal child abuse.
Wasteful Washington spending is nothing new. We now have $105 trillion in unfunded debt for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, and Congress continues to spend: $787 billion for the stimulus hoax, $940 billion for the health-care takeover. In five years our national debt has risen from 19.9 percent to 24.7 percent, and it continues to expand exponentially to where it will consume our national economy in 15 years.
The progressive spenders in Congress are willing to grab what they want for now, with no thought for tomorrow’s price. Their stimulus spending has not worked as economic expansion continues to slow. The stimulus spending has gone mostly to sustain union workers pension funds like the UAW and, recently, the teacher’s union, both who traditionally back Democrats with funding from their political action committees.
Ronald Reagan also said, “Government is not the solution to the problem, government is the problem,” and so it seems. To limit government spending, Congressmen Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Mike Pence (R-IN) and John Campbell (R-CA) have introduced a spending limitation amendment to our Constitution that would limit Congress to holding spending below one-fifth of the nation’s economy. If passed and ratified by the states, it could only be suspended by act of war or a two-thirds congressional vote. It is a good idea to be explored.
I recently read a letter from President Obama accusing Republicans of having no solutions, only obstructions. Nothing could be further from the truth. Congressman Eric Cantor (R-VA) holds weekly votes in the House on which programs can be cut from the budget. The items selected are voted as most unpopular by Americans signing on to You Cut through his House web site. Through You Cut, Americans have already selected $120 billion in commonsense cuts. His site also has a “how they voted” link for you to see what your congressman likes to spend your money.
Progressives have attacked their opposition by accusing those supporting T.E.A. Party movements for less taxes and limited government as being “violent, a national security threat, Astroturf mobsters, domestic terrorists and angry white racists.”
While campaigning in the 3rd Congressional District, I find more and more Democrats are becoming uneasy with this rhetoric and moving away from the name calling and the progressive movement run by Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barack Obama. The progressives’ tactics are offending normal, mainstream Americans who understand economic recovery and jobs originate from a free market economy, not government control and expanding entitlement programs used to buy votes.
Our nation facing a fiscal crisis, and it is time to fundamentally change the way Washington spends our money. Unless we change direction, the public debt will bankrupt our nation, limit your freedom and change your future. There are 305 million people in America, and in November it is time for us to stop this madness and vote to defeat these progressive congressmen and women who are destroying our opportunity and future.
Mullins is the Republican candidate for New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District seat in Congress.