Take Action: Congress and the Debt Ceiling

July 12, 2011 at 5:41 pm

By now everyone has heard that the United States is going to hit our current borrowing limit on August 2nd according to a US Treasury estimate.  The President has stated repeatedly that the limit must be raised or the US will default on its debt and trigger an unprecedented financial crisis that will have widespread and far-felt ramifications.  Congress is currently wrestling over how to address this most serious issue, though how much of it is genuine dissent and how much is put on to create a good show for the public is debatable.

The President would like us to all think that the problem here is that the debt ceiling is not high enough.  That is not the problem.  The problem is that the debt ceiling is even an issue.  The problem is that the federal government is borrowing at such a rate that the federal debt is increasing by $40,000 per second!  That comes out to $3.456 BILLION a day.  And the President wants more.

The choice here is a simple one.  We either continue down the path of reckless spending that will ultimately lead to the utter destruction of the dollar and the complete financial collapse of the United States, or we force Washington to make drastic spending cuts and stay within its means.  Make no mistake, the cuts that are needed are not a few billion here or there.  A plan outlining $500 billion in cuts has been presented by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), but he even admitted that is too small a number.  The only solution is to balance the federal budget by making what many would consider extraordinarily radical cuts in spending.  That means that the government cannot be allowed to spend more than it takes in and it cannot be permitted to pass the fallout on to the American people in the form of tax increases.  Obviously if you do not have money, you cannot spend money.  That is unless you borrow it, which we have been doing in extreme excess in recent history.  The “credit card” so to speak is now maxed out.

The Democrats refuse to accept that there is no more money, and instead of looking into cutting back, they want the credit limit raised.  If you look up any recent presidential statement on the issue it contains all of the usual fear mongering and finger pointing in an attempt to get the populous stirred up and into a blind tizzy that will allow them to once again have their way with us at the cost of our liberty.  What the Democrats are currently discussing is a few meager cuts, in exchanged for a raise in the debt limit, in addition to provisions meant to “enhancing revenue”.

Let me translate that for you:  “Enhancing revenue” is code for raising taxes.  Taxing people who are already struggling is not an effective way to help the economy.  It will cause more financial distress for the people.  It will further damage the job market.  And in placing more people in greater financial peril it will enhance the attractiveness of government welfare for those who struggle the most.  Driving more people into the outstretched arms of Big Brother will further encroach on liberty, make laziness a more enticing option, and further the out of control spending that our government has been conducting in the name of those less fortunate.

The Republicans, led by House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio have stated that they will not accept any deal that contains any increase in taxes.  However it is rumored that Rep. Boehner may cave on that commitment.

The deal proposed by Democrats would achieve $4.5 trillion in cuts over the next 10 years.  Such a reduction is simply not good enough.  To prove it, let us examine a few more figures.  Presently, the government is borrowing $1.26 trillion per year.  If we assume that the rate of borrowing remains the same for the next 10 years, which will be a total of $12.6 trillion.  A reduction of $4.5 trillion does not do enough.  Taking that into account, we would still be borrowing $8.1 trillion over the next 10 years which amounts to an equal increase in the national debt.

The borrowing must stop.  It is long over due for our political leaders on both sides of the aisle to accept that the spending must stop now.  The Democrats need to accept drastic cuts to their beloved domestic coddling programs and the Republicans need to accept drastic cuts to their beloved Department of Offense (I say offense because when we are the aggressors, it is certainly not defense).

Republicans in the Senate on July 7 introduced the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011.  The bill outlines three goals that must be met before the debt ceiling can be raised.

The bill’s three major components include:

CUT – Immediately reduces FY 2012 spending by $142 billion

CAP – Divides federal outlays into six categories and imposes a separate spending cap on each one from 2012 to 2021

BALANCE – Requires the passage of the Hatch-Lee Balanced Budget Amendment (or some other similarly effective amendment) before Congress can raise the nation’s debt limit.

Quoted from Mike Lee’s congressional website.

The cut portion of this plan is weak, but the idea of a Constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget is a good one.  It also offers a safeguard to ensure that the federal government cannot just raise taxes as needed to balance the budget by requiring a two-thirds supermajority for any tax increases.

I believe that the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011 while weak on the immediate cuts is a good start and that a Constitutional amendment to balance the budget is a very wise measure.  The bill is not good enough though, because it allows for the debt cap to be raised.  The debt cap should not be raised.  The cap currently seems to be the best firewall we have for holding back the unbridled spending in Washington.

It is vital that we send a message to the federal government that the spending must stop!  We as a country cannot continue to spend more than we have.  Our government has been acting irresponsibly and now is the time to firmly remind them that they serve us, and that We The People will not tolerate any more of their insidious behavior.

This would not even be an issue if the federal government exercised fidelity to the Constitution.  Without the unconstitutional wars, foreign intervention, foreign aid, domestic entitlement programs such as social security, ObamaCare, Medicare, Medicaid, welfare, corporate bailouts… Without these and many other gross violations of the Constitutional limits placed on the federal government we would not be in this situation.

While Congress will come to some kind of deal, which will likely be a disappointment to all freedom loving Americans, you can be sure that they will parade around, beating their chests and exclaiming to the heavens how they have once again saved us.  Do not be fooled.  The only invariable solution is complete adherence to the Constitution.  It is the only cure for what ails our once great Republic.

Call your Representative and Senators today and tell them you will not tolerate it anymore.


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