Saturday, March 28, 2015

Billy Long: We must protect our children from runaway debt

(From Seventh District Congressman Billy Long)

The majority of our national debt is simply a result of unnecessary, wasteful spending that is focused on the “here and now” rather than the future. There has also been a lackluster desire to fix budget-busting problems with long-standing safety net programs.  

The debt is the total of yearly budget deficits over time and interest paid on borrowed funds from nations like China.  Thankfully, the House has proposed a budget to reduce the deficit, diminishing the need to borrow, and begin reversing the debt.

The House’s A Balanced Budget for a Stronger America would cut $5.5 trillion in spending with no tax increases, and balance the budget in less than 10 years.

This budget takes several approaches to relieve Americans of constant regulatory pressure and tax burdens.  It would repeal Obamacare, which has driven up health care costs through numerous tax provisions and driven down Americans’ full work potential due to employer mandates.  States would have more control to shape education, food stamp and Medicaid programs to meet their needs, benefiting all Americans.  This budget would simplify the tax code.  The budget would not only increase fiscal security but also strengthen national security.

Balancing the budget should be common sense.  Every American balances their budget to make ends meet.  Why should the federal government be any different?  The proposal is a solid step to reverse reckless spending.  I support this budget to strengthen our nation, to clean up our fiscal house for American families and protect our children from a runaway debt burden.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

There is a simple solution to this problem Billy. Just tell the standing Army to go home and sit down.

Anonymous said...

Obamacare has reduced medical costs throwing educational costs totally to the states would increase real estate taxes or decrease the quality of education. Why don't we stop buying military equipment that we don't use or doesn't work. Or stop congressional expence accounts.

Anonymous said...

Just tell the standing Army to go home and sit down.

Looking at the Wikipedia 2015 Federal budget page's figures, it would appear that would only shave off 1/10 of the military budget.

Just looking at the total "National Defense" budget vs. the rest, while it's conveniently the largest line item, it's dwarfed by the combined social welfare budget, and that's not counting all the state level programs for that.

Fiscal year 2013 is the last year that's got all the figures filled in (the Federal fiscal year ends in September of its year, so it takes a while for all the numbers to get collected), and it had a 1,033 billion dollar deficit as I figure it. Subtracting the DoD budget "including Overseas Contingency Operations" and the rough 3/4ths of the Department of Energy's budget that goes towards nuclear weapons still results in an unsustainable 333 billion dollar deficit for that year.

A hint at the unsustainablity can be gained by looking at the interest costs of these fiscal years, 246 for 2013, and for 2015, 252 in Obama's request and 267 in the Republican proposal. Those are large figures, even for a 4 trillion dollar budget, and will become very ugly when we can no longer borrow and print money at near 0% real interest rates. Those of us who remember the late '70s know how ugly this can become, and that fiscal crisis didn't get very far.

Anonymous said...

As long as a country has the ability to print and distribute money, the debt means nothing. Remember all those bills you have in your wallet are actually backed by nothing but faith.