Budget and the Economy

Coming from the private sector to Congress, I know that America can and will become prosperous beyond imagination and millions of new private-sector jobs will be created if we would just get back to our founding, free-market principles and end big government and wasteful spending. It is clear that we cannot continue on the misguided and irresponsible path endorsed by the other side of the aisle of higher taxes, reckless spending, bigger government, explosive debt and deficits and unacceptably high unemployment. The new Republican Majority in the House inherited a budget situation vastly worse than I ever expected.

Over the past four years under the previous Democrat Congress, the national debt increased by more than $5 trillion to its current amount of more than $14 trillion. This means that our national debt is nearly two-thirds the size of the U.S. economy, and the annual deficit increased by more than 700 percent to its current level of $1.3 trillion. My concern over our country’s fiscal situation led me to serve on the House Budget Committee. By taking action now, my Congressional colleagues and I can develop gradual, prospective changes keeping promises to those now in or near retirement while securing the programs for future retirees.

In April of this year, Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) of the House Budget Committee introduced his fiscal year 2012 (FY2012) House budget plan, H. Con. Res. 34, to the House. Along with real reforms to many of our Nation’s entitlement programs, the House budget plan also cuts spending by $6.2 trillion over the next decade, blocks President Obama’s proposed $1.5 trillion tax increase and reins in the deficit. Taxpayer dollars should be spent wisely, or not at all – and not on the backs of American families and businesses. As a member of the Budget Committee, I am happy to have played a role in creating a budget that will help restore prosperity and the American Dream for future generations.