McCaskill offers discretionary spending amendment

From a Claire McCaskill letter to constituents:

It's going to take full, comprehensive budget reform to break the cycle of debt and put us back on track. I am committed to making that reform a reality.

But the first piece of the puzzle is holding down government spending where we can. That's why Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama) and I are offering an amendment that would cap increases in discretionary spending through 2014, and encourage the President to renew the caps when they expire.

Discretionary spending only makes up about a third of the federal budget, so this amendment alone won’t solve our huge fiscal problems.

Much more will need to be done. I introduced legislation that would reinstitute a Pay-As-You-Go law that would force across-the-board spending cuts if Congress passed any legislation that increased spending or cut taxes without offsetting the cost. I also support efforts to create a Fiscal Task Force, which would propose legislation to close the long term budget gap and submit it to Congress for a vote.

The reason this is so important is our back is against a wall – unless the debt limit is raised our country will default on our debt, our nation’s credit will be ruined, inviting a new global economic crisis.

People who say we should let our nation default are being irresponsible, but we can’t keep kicking the can down the road – that's why I’m introducing this amendment.