Despite Promises to Curb Spending, Democrats Continue Spending Spree
After much anticipation, the President has officially submitted his 2011 budget proposal to Congress. All I can say is, fasten your seat belt: The budget includes more than $2 trillion in new taxes ($3 trillion if you include the House-passed "Cap and Tax" climate legislation). And then there is the spending.
Despite his much publicized pledge to "freeze" non-defense, non-foreign aid, non-homeland security, non-entitlement, non-stimulus spending, and despite the trillions of dollars in new taxes he is proposing, the Democrats voted on Thursday to increase the statutory cap on government borrowing by a further $1.9 trillion dollars. Let me reiterate that: the Democrats have increased spending so much in the last year alone that "freezing" current spending levels still requires trillions of dollars in higher taxes and trillions of dollars in more government borrowing from China. If you think something doesn't add up here, you are right.
As of Thursday afternoon, you are now on the hook for $14.3 trillion dollars. Thursday morning, you owed $12.4 trillion. In other words, while you were having lunch, the Democrats borrowed another $2 trillion dollars in your name. Sadly this isn't the first such increase. Keep in mind that they raised the "debt ceiling" by a quarter of a trillion dollars just two months ago. The spending is literally growing that fast.
It is fair to ask what can be done to reverse the tide. The short answer is that the government needs to take a hard look at spending. Immediately after taking office, President Obama directed his cabinet to find $100 million dollars in savings. To be perfectly frank, the government has spent nearly that in the time it took me to write this letter to you. I'm not kidding. I am also not kidding when I say that his administration never followed through on that $100 million.
Here is one place to start: fraud in government programs. I introduced legislation earlier this year, H.R. 4222, that will target and substantially eliminate fraud in Medicare. This bill alone will save taxpayers $60 billion per year. Furthermore, the approach that I am taking with Medicare fraud can be replicated throughout the federal budget. The fact that President couldn't even come up with $100 million in the entire $3 plus trillion budget ought to tell you something.
Being able to communicate openly with you is critical if I am to be effective as your representative in the federal government. I hope you will consider sharing your thoughts on this issue with me. And if you are interested in hearing more about the progress of this and other legislation, I encourage you to consider signing up for my weekly newsletter. You can find it by visiting: http://Brown-Waite.House.Gov/Update.
