Issue Position: Taxes & Spending

Issue Position

Issue Position: Taxes & Spending

In the past decade, the federal government has grown at an alarming rate. With this growth has come outrageous spending. It is imperative, for the protection of individual freedom and the maintenance of our economy that we cut the size and scope of government and curb federal spending. The American people are understandably frustrated with their elected officials. They want, and I firmly believe they deserve, lower taxes, less pork barrel spending, and a transparent, ethical government.

Throughout my career in Congress, I have fought tirelessly to protect hardworking American taxpayers. I am proud to have been named a "Taxpayer Hero" by Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), a Congressional watchdog organization which rates members of the House and Senate on their effectiveness in controlling wasteful government spending, and a "Taxpayer's Friend" by the National Taxpayers Union.

I will continue to be an outspoken critic of earmarks. Earmarked money belongs to the taxpayers, yet politicians use earmarks to spend public funds for political gain and personal aggrandizement without the oversight provided by the regular appropriations process. As a result, waste, abuse and even fraud are much more likely to occur. It is necessary therefore, to require all requests for earmarks be made public with the name of the Member of Congress making the request, the purpose of the earmark, the name and address of the recipient, and the constitutional authority allowing the request.

In addition, private citizens should be able to hold earmark proliferators accountable. Enabling a citizen to submit a Freedom of Information Act request to view correspondence related to specific earmarks places the power in the hands of American citizens and increases transparency in the appropriations process.

In each Congress since my election in 1994, I have introduced the Enumerated Powers Act, a bill which would hold Congress accountable for its actions by requiring Members of Congress to include an explicit statement of Constitutional authority into each bill that is introduced. The Tenth Amendment clearly states, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." Under the Tenth Amendment, the national government cannot expand its legislative authority into areas reserved to the States or the people. Yet, the size and scope of the federal government has exploded since the New Deal. Congress continues to operate without Constitutional restraint, creating costly and ineffective programs and blatantly ignoring our founding federalist principles.

The National Taxpayers Union conducted a study of federal spending for the 1999 Fiscal Year. They found that had the Tenth Amendment been adhered to, the federal government would have spent $459.5 billion. Instead, the federal government spent $1.7 trillion in 1999, and that number has increased every year since.

Spending is directly tied to taxes. The more the government taxes, the larger it becomes and the more it spends. Since the Sixteenth Amendment was enacted, the amendment creating federal income taxes, federal programs have grown exponentially. Washington currently has a spending problem, not a revenue problem. Lowering taxes and cutting back on federal government programs is critical to protecting freedom and ensuring national prosperity.

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