Another Trillion Dollar Deficit
October 5, 2012
Rep . Scott Garrett
As we wrapped up Fiscal Year 2012 on Friday, the United States saw our fourth straight year of trillion dollar deficits. Without including September’s total, the 2012 fiscal year deficit has already reached $1.6 trillion. It seems many elected officials have become comfortable on this unsustainable path, I have not.
It didn’t have to be this way. Our annual budgetary process came and went with President Obama offering a laughable budget that failed to earn a single vote in either chamber of Congress while the Senate didn’t even bother to propose a budget at all. Without a guideline for how to spend taxpayer money, the government is simply ‘winging it.’
Imagine, for a moment, if your household took the approach of the federal government and spent indiscriminately, using all of your monthly income and charging the rest on a credit card with no limit. Things would spiral out of control pretty quickly and people would probably accuse you of being reckless and irresponsible. Why is it any different when the government does it?
As we all know, actions have consequences. Last quarters’ economic growth was a dismal 1.3%, Americans are spending more money on gas, leaving less for other expenses while household incomes are in a downward spiral. This is not the recovery President Obama promised.
Every dollar our country borrows dims the light of American prosperity and crushes the dreams of future generations burdened by inherited debt. The sacrifices Americans make to ensure a better future for themselves and their families should be sacred, instead they are jeopardized by a spending spree in Washington of historical proportions.
It is immoral and selfish to continue this rate of spending at the expense of our children’s liberty. As the national debt surpasses $16 trillion, I’m reminded of the words of President Ronald Reagan, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” As vice chairman of the House Budget Committee, I will continue to fight for a balanced budget and a government that lives within its means to preserve our republic and the American Dream.
