Hartzler: Obama budget continues destructive policies of reckless spending

In her weekly newsletter, Fourth District Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler criticizes President Obama's budget and notes the importance of getting the deficit under control:

It’s been another eventful and productive week in Congress as the House of Representatives took solid steps to address the nation’s financial crisis and to help the many Americans who are out of work and looking for jobs. It was also the week we heard from President Obama who delivered his 2012 budget to Congress. The contrast between the two branches of government could not have been clearer: President Obama’s budget proposal continues the destructive policies of reckless spending, borrowing more money from other countries, and taxing our people. At a time when the President's Administration revealed that our nation's deficit was expected to reach a record high $1.65 trillion this year, he puts forth a plan to take us farther down the road to bankruptcy as a nation.

In the House, we took a different tact. We took up the continuing resolution to fund our government for 2011 - a task handed to us from the last Congress when it failed to pass a budget last year. Last year's Congress merely passed a 'continuing resolution' to fund the government through March 4. It is up to us as the new Congress to fund it through the end of the fiscal year which ends September 30. We simply cannot continue to head down the road to bankruptcy. We cannot keep borrowing 40 cents of every dollar we spend. It is irresponsible to saddle our children and grandchildren with this huge debt which has risen to record levels equaling $45,500 of debt for every man, woman, and child in Missouri's 4th District or $122,000 per Missouri family. Someone must say ‘enough is enough’ and the House is doing just that by voting to trim $100 billion from the President's budget for this year. It was not easy and there were tough choices, but we've got to do it.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to get our national debt under control. Prosperity and job growth do not come from the government’s power to tax, borrow, and spend. These policies are bankrupting the country and damaging job prospects by creating uncertainty among employers. For 21 straight months our national unemployment rate has been at 9 percent or higher – making it the longest stretch the jobless figure has been at that level since the Great Depression! Unemployed Missourians in the 4th District and jobless Americans throughout the country want to get back to work and we cannot end the unemployment nightmare with reckless policies that harm job creators. Our votes this week were an important step to get Washington out of the way and allow the private sector to do what it does best – create jobs and promote prosperity.

In other news, Major General David Quantock, the Commanding General at Fort Leonard Wood, visited my Capitol Hill office this week to give me an update on rebuilding efforts following the December 31st tornado that touched down at the post. While there were no deaths or serious injuries at the Fort the damage was extensive. General Quantock informed me recovery efforts are going well, even though the full cost of reconstruction is still being assessed. I learned that our military is taking some positives from the disaster by sharing with other military installations the lessons learned from this disaster and how other installations can mitigate for future storms of this magnitude. Part of the proposal calls for the construction of storm shelters to fully protect our men and women in uniform and their families in the event of a tornado. I am fully behind this effort and relayed to General Quantock my commitment to a complete recovery at Fort Leonard Wood. I am confident, due to the fine leadership at Ft. Leonard Wood and dedication of our men and women in uniform, that Fort Leonard Wood will be rebuilt not only better, but also safer.