Op-Eds

As you know, spending in Washington is out of control.  Many people joke that economists shouldn’t tell the majority leadership what comes after a trillion because they will find a way to spend it.  The American people are tightening their belts during these tough economic times, and I strongly believe that Congress needs to as well.

Here is a quick snapshot of the expenditures on the $3.4 trillion spending-spree that the majority in Congress has taken over the past seven months:

• A $787 billion “Stimulus” Bill about which the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says only 11% of the discretionary funds will be spent in the first year.
• A $407.6 billion Omnibus Appropriations Bill that increased discretionary spending by 8.6%. 
• The President’s Budget that increases non-defense discretionary spending by 11% and doubles our national debt after 5 years and triples it after 10. 
• The FY ’09 Supplemental Appropriations that was supposed to provide funding for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, but instead tacked on billions in spending for 15 non-defense agencies, including a bailout to the International Monetary Fund.
• Cap and trade legislation that raises spending by $864 billion while raising taxes and electric bills for Kentucky families.

The House of Representatives recently finished all 12 appropriations bills that fund the federal government for the 2010 Fiscal Year.   Ultimately, I voted against the majority of these bills because they spent too much money increasing non-defense discretionary spending by 11%. 

I voted for a dozen amendments that would cut funding from these bloated pieces of legislation because I believe that we must restore fiscal responsibility to Washington.  We cannot continue mortgaging our children and grandchildren’s future by trying to spend our way to prosperity.