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GUEST COLUMN
April 30, 2009
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CONTACT: Adam Buckalew
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McComb Enterprise-Journal Op-Ed
Debt Day: National Debt Goes Through The Roof
WASHINGTON, DC – Sunday, April 26th marked Debt Day for the 2009 fiscal year. Debt Day is the day the government starts paying for federal spending by borrowing money rather than using its revenue. This means that all of the money spent from Washington the rest of this year will either be borrowed from foreign countries or borrowed from future generations, in turn increasing our federal debt dramatically.
This week also marks President Obama’s 100th day in power. What an audacious accomplishment – accruing more debt in the first 100 days than all previous presidents have combined.
It is no secret that Mississippians and Mississippi families are making sacrifices to help weather this tough economic storm. Our people are tightening their belts and small businesses are cutting expenses. As retirement accounts dwindle and economic uncertainty continues, many across our nation are looking to the government for leadership during this difficult time.
But instead of supplying real solutions, President Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress have responded to the call with unprecedented spending of your tax dollars. The stimulus package passed without the support of one single Republican Member of the House in February and will ultimately cost taxpayer’s nearly $1.2 trillion in new federal government debt. The Republican alternative would have provided twice as many jobs at half the cost. In addition, the Democrats passed a $400 billion omnibus appropriations bill that increases spending almost 9% over the previous year’s level, while Republicans called for a spending freeze to get control of government spending. Instead, both Democrat lead bills were passed by Congress and signed into law forcing our kids and grandkids to foot the bill. This generational theft must stop.
Most recently, the President proposed a budget that will double the national debt in five years and triple it in ten. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the President’s budget will produce $9.3 trillion in deficits over the next ten years. Even some of my Democratic colleagues have declared that the policies are unsustainable. Sadly, the total debt incurred by the nation will cripple America’s future. The debt per capita is currently about $35,000 and in just eight years it will be $70,000. Future generations will be forced to bear an unprecedented burden as a result of the Democrats’ policies. Sending the national debt through the roof is not the answer.
The American people know that we cannot borrow and spend our way back to prosperity. The path to our economic recovery starts with fiscal responsibility in Washington. Republicans believe that the federal government should follow the example set by our nation’s families – tighten the budget and eliminate wasteful spending. The future of America depends on it.
