As you know, the government shutdown created by Washington’s inability to work together for the common good is now over. The Senate and the House of Representatives passed legislation to extend our nation’s borrowing limit and end the first government shutdown in 17 years. While I fully support ending the shutdown, I could not support this legislation that does nothing to address our nation’s spending addiction or to protect families and individuals from the harmful effects of ObamaCare.
Folks in Washington need to recognize what families in Missouri already know, America has a serious spending problem. Only in Washington would the solution to a $16.7 trillion national debt be an increase in our borrowing limit. President Obama has said that increasing the debt ceiling does not increase our debt. I disagree. The debt ceiling has been raised 74 times since 1962. In that time frame our national debt has gone from under $1 trillion to the staggering $17 trillion from the increase this week. It’s time to cut up the credit cards and start living within our financial means.
During my campaign for Congress, I promised families in Missouri’s Eighth District that I would fight to change the way Washington does business. My vote against extending our nation’s borrowing limit, without making major cuts to federal spending, does just that. This vote will definitely not make me the most popular guy in Washington, but I am more concerned with the $52,870 share of the national debt already burdening every man, woman and child in America.
President Obama’s demand for a clean debt ceiling increase just does not make sense. It would be like a family in Missouri going to their local bank and asking for a loan with no money down, no repayment plan, and no strings attached. There is not a banker in Missouri, or America, who would make that loan. Yet, that is what President Obama demanded and that is exactly what this debt ceiling deal does.
Since the founding of our great Republic, each generation of Americans has been charged with protecting our freedoms and preserving Americas place in the world. Past generations have fought through wars at home and abroad, fought through a Great Depression and defeated terror. Now is the time for a new generation of Americans to stand up and defeat the debt crisis that threatens our nation’s future. In order to preserve the American Dream for future generations, we must end our nation’s spending addiction.
