Issue Position: Lower Taxes and Government Spending

Issue Position

Spending in Congress has reached historic levels in the 111th Congress. For fiscal year 2010, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) anticipates that the federal government will run a $1.5 trillion deficit and, if President Obama's FY11 budget proposal is passed, another $1.3 trillion deficit for 2011. As we continue to amass trillions upon trillions of dollars of debt, Speaker Pelosi and President Obama continue to push for more government spending and higher taxes. Their fiscally irresponsible behavior has driven our national debt level to the point that it is almost equal to the size of our entire economy. This is unacceptable and it must stop.

Throughout the 111th Congress, I have opposed -- and will continue to oppose -- spending initiatives that dramatically increase the size and scope of the federal government while adding to our already massive national debt. I opposed President Obama's so-called "stimulus bill" and also opposed the controversial bailout bill from the 110th Congress.

I have long been a supporter of tax reform and was proud to cast my vote for the third-largest tax cut in history, the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003. The law accelerated the tax relief Congress passed in 2001, including marriage penalty relief, an increase in the child tax credit, tax rate reductions for every family that pays income taxes, and also lowering the tax rate on dividends and capital gains. But these tax cuts are set to expire, creating a $3.8 trillion tax hike on January 1, 2011 -- the largest tax hike in American history -- that will affect the tax liability of almost every American family and many American businesses. In my special report on the 2011 tax hikes, Tax Talk, I discuss many of the specific tax increases Americans will be facing.

As our country continues to suffer through this economic recession, we should not dramatically increase the size and scope of the federal government with more taxes on American families and small businesses. I will continue to fight against increases in taxes and federal spending. Congress must get back to the business of fiscal responsibility and strive for a balanced budget without raising the taxes of hard-working Americans.

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