The National Debt

Statement

On June 1st, our national debt reached $13 trillion. The red ink continues to run each and every day. A bipartisan spending problem brought us to where we are today. In the past ten years the national debt has grown by approximately $7 trillion. This growth, in only ten years is more than in the previous 222 year history of the United States. As a nation we must put a stop to the out-of-control spending in Washington.

Last week, the Treasury Department released a report that predicted America's national debt would climb to $19.6 trillion by 2015. That is unacceptable. For the first time in my life I fear for the future of our great nation. I do not want to see scenes five years from now in the United States that are similar to what occurred in Greece just a month ago. If Kentuckians can make hard decisions around the kitchen table during these tough economic times, then the federal government can do so as well.

This past winter I took some heat for taking a stand against this out-of-control deficit spending. The only request I had was for the majority party to follow their own "pay as you go" rules. Pay as you go is supposed to mean exactly what it sounds like: the federal government only funds programs that are paid for and do not add to our national debt. Instead of following their own rules, the majority tried to pass an extension of unemployment benefits and several other programs, without paying for them. I opposed this because it would add to our national debt, and I simply asked them to pay for this spending and offered them several ways to do so. It is our responsibility to make sure that we not only help Americans who are in need today, but to also make sure that we take care of future generations and not burden them with the bill to pay for the actions and decisions we make now.

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